The Beginning of the End
by lonewarrior101
Summary: A man returns home after losing his job to find his girlfriend has left him, but his day is about to get a lot worse.Thrown into a hellish battle against the undead from the apartment block, people begin to turn to him, making him their Leader.
1. Prologue

_Ok, this is my first piece of fan fic, so I don't know how good it will be._

_Feel free to leave what comments you like, second chapter will be up next week._

_Contains some swearing so i'v giving it this Fiction Rated: T_

Andrew threw his keys on the table of his apartment as the door slammed behind him, he had lost another job, the fifth in a month in fact.

His white T-shirt was stained with coffee and his jeans were aging, he made a mental note to buy some new jeans when he got another job.

He wrenched open the fridge and took out a cold beer, sitting at the table he looked around the kitchen. There was an eerie silence about his apartment, the cat was gone.

"Honey?" he called, but there was no answer.

Looking at the table he saw a note held down by an empty glass, He picked it up and it simply read:

Andrew, I'm sorry, I'm leaving you for someone else. I just don't love you anymore,

Sara

"Shit," he muttered and threw the beer bottle against the wall.

The glass smashed and he kicked the chair away as he rose, throwing a microwave meal in the microwave he slammed the door shut and hit the button hard.

"How much fucking worse can this day get?" he said to the TV on the side.

Though, obviously it didn't reply.

After cleaning up the glass he propped the chair back up he switched on the TV to see a program about car's on. A silver car skidded towards the screen, the presenter talking about it's horse power or something.

"I'm gonna get me one of those," he said to himself," when I win the lottery.

(We interrupt this program, please stayed tuned for a special news bulliten, we will resume the scheduled programming immediately following this report)

He turned off the TV as the microwave pinged, telling him his meal was ready.

Sitting down again he ate in silence, that was until he heard someone shouting in the street.

Walking over to the balcony door, he opened it a fraction and looked out. Two men were wrestling in the street, while another was getting up from under a car and started hitting the car, the driver must have knocked him down.

There was a sudden bang at the door followed by some muffled cries and Andrew jumped, a second bang shook the wooden door on it's hinges and he threw down his meal and grabbed the baseball bat by the door.

"What do you want?" he asked.

"Help me please!" a women's voice sobbed from the other side of the door.

"I don't have any money," he replied, "go the fuck away,"

"Something killed my boyfriend," came a muffled reply, "I think it's still in the apartment,"

Andrew put the chain on the door and opened it a bit, a young girl in dirty clothes stood there, her eyes raw with tears that poured down her face.

"So why did you come here?" he asked.

"No one else answered their doors," she said looking up and down the corridor," please help me,"

"Call the cops," he said going to close the door, she looked like she had been taking drugs and sounded like it too.

"All their lines are busy," she said putting her hand in the door," please help me, I cant go back in there,"

"Just my fucking luck," he said, opening the door and taking his bat he stuffed his keys in his back pocket and slammed the door.

"Which door?" he asked.

"That one," she pointed at number 13.

'Now that takes the piss,' he thought,' number 13,'

He pushed open the slightly ajar door and looked back, she was pressed against the wall on the other side of the corridor.

"Go and try the cops again," he said.

"Ok," she said wiping her nose," be careful,"

Turning back to the apartment he heard a noise like the sound of paper being torn, hefting the bat he strode in.

At his feet a lamp lay broken and the room was in complete darkness, he edged his way in and stepped on the broken glass which crackled under his trainers.

There was silence for a moment, then from the corner of his eye he saw movement, a dark figure sprinted across the room at him and he rose the bat ready for whatever was coming at him……………..

_More coming sometime next week_


	2. Lockdown

_Thanks for the comments so far, I'll try and post the third part in a couple of days._

The figure sprinted forward and Andrew stumbled back as a bloody face loomed from the darkness.

The figure collided with him before he could swing the bat, throwing him to the ground he felt sharp pain all up his back.

Using the force of the collision, Andrew put his foot in the gut of the guy and he almost flew over him and towards the open apartment door.

The guy thudded into the ground and rolled until he hit the wall.

Andrew looked around, but his bat was missing, lost somewhere in the dark room.

He walked to the apartment door and watched as the man got up.

"I'm warning you," Andrew said, "I'm not in the mood for this shit today,"

The guy turned and Andrew's eyes widened, the man's face looked like it had been mauled by a bear. Skin hung from the cheeks and his teeth was broken and had small chunks of what could only be described as flesh stuck between his teeth.

The thing howled and made for him with unbelievable speed, he slammed the door and leant against it, but the impact knocked him to the ground.

He lay listening as running footsteps disappeared down the corridor followed by a women screaming.

"Oh shit," he said aloud, fumbling for the door handle in the dark.

As he did, he heard a noise behind him, someone stepping on the broken lamp.

Turning he saw another figure silhouetted against the window, standing there looking at him in the dark.

"Who are-," he began but it pounced like a wolf.

The thing was on top of him before he could react, Andrew's head smashed into a table and he felt his head spinning and cold hands grasp his neck.

He rolled over, getting on top, but whatever it was, it was damm strong.

Its hand's lashed out, but he held them down. It's face kept spitting and trying to bite him and he struggled to pin it down.

The thing pushed his side and he lost balance, landing softly on the side of a sofa and bouncing back, hitting the ground hard.

Under him he felt a large object, something cold and solid. Tightening his grip, he picked up what felt like the lamp's handle.

"One more step and I'll fucking kill you!" Andrew coughed as he got his breath back.

The thing came again and Andrew swung hard, the blow struck the thing in the shoulder and it stumbled back into the dark.

Not waiting around, he scrambled for the door, wrenching it open and slamming it behind him.

He leant against the wall to better get his breath, when he heard shouting from downstairs.

Andrew ran towards the stairs, his back bleeding from the broken glass from the lamp.

As he reached the bottom, two men were pushing the thing that had attacked him out the front doors to the apartment block.

Andrew went between them and drew back his fist, with all his strength his punched it in the nose and it stumbled back and fell down the steps outside.

"Thanks," one of the men said, his business suit stained with blood.

The other, a man dressed in black with a red bandana said nothing, he knelt down and picked up a wrench that lay by his feet.

"Larry," the businessman said as the thing smashed against the door.

The other man leant against it and looked around.

"I can hold this door," he said," go and get some washing machines from the basement and block the door, go hurry before those things get in"

"Andrew," Andrew said, shaking Larry's hand.

"Was there a girl down here?" Andrew asked.

"Over here," said a voice, the girl lay against the wall wrapping a part of her ripped shirt around her arm, which was bleeding heavily.

"I locked one in your apartment," he said to the girl.

"What are they?" Larry asked.

"They look like fucking vampires," the other guy said.

"I don't think their vampires," Andrew said, looking out at the people fighting in the street.

"You stay here," Andrew said to the girl," we'll be right back,"

Larry put down the last of the washing machines, there were now six of them barring the doors.

"What's your name?" Andrew asked the guy with the wrench, who said nothing and narrowed his eyes as he walked past.

"I'm going to check the back doors," he said walking away down the corridor.

"What's with him?" Andrew asked Larry.

"He's the guy in room 32 on the top floor," Larry replied, "hes always been an asshole,"

"What's his name?" Andrew said as the girl stood up.

"It's Conrad," Larry said," I'd stay out of his way if I was you,"

"What's that?" the girl said pointing.

Their gaze travelled to the other side of the street, where there was flashing red and blue lights coming from an alleyway with thick black smoke.

"A police car?" Larry said, looking hopeful.

"They looked fucked," Andrew said, "and I'm not going out there unless theres help,"

"The phones are out," the girl said," maybe they have a radio, we can get some help from the cops,"

"You're a genius," Andrew said.

"Who's going to go and see?" Larry said, with the look on his face saying 'not fucking me'.

"I'll go," Andrew said," I'll go down the fire escape. Larry go to room 16, my apartment and turn on the TV, find out what's going on. Ummm….,"

"The names Claire," the girl said.

"Make sure your able to lower the ladder when I come back," he said," They might be following me when I get back,"

"Hey your bleeding," Claire said.

"It was that lamp in your apartment," he explained," Theres no time now, I'm going to see if they have a radio,"

He made for the stairs and went into his apartment, opening the window he lowered himself onto the fire escape.

"This better fucking work," he muttered as he slid down the ladder into the empty alleyway.

Looking over his shoulder he saw Claire standing by the ladder, he turned and got ready to run across the street to the police car which his could now see was burning in the alley opposite……..


	3. The Gun

_Ok heres the third part, enjoy……_

Andrew hid behind a giant waste container, observing the smoke filled street.

Here and there were those things, stalking the street through the foggy black shroud.

He hoped the police car radio worked, they needed help, the girl Claire was injured and his back was cut badly from the glass.

Andrew waited, he had barely been able to fight one of them and now there were at least thirty that he could see stumbling around the car wrecks.

In the distance he could here gun shots and screams, but they were too far away to be of any help now.

He looked up and down and scrambled behind the nearest car, he waited a moment before looking through the window to see what was around.

None of them had seen him, the closet was eating another a few metres away and had it's back to him.

He moved again, keeping low but in the thick black smoke coming from the police car in the opposite alley.

One of them turned to face him and he froze, but the smoke was obscuring the thing's view enough for him to wait until it walked away before he moved again.

He reached the entrance to the alley, the black smoke was getting thicker so he quickened his pace.

Putting his face to the window of the car, he saw that the seats were empty. Pulling hard on the handle, he struggled to open the door that had some rubbish bags jammed underneath. He sat down on the seat and looked down at the radio, there was no sound from it, the power was not on.

Something shiny caught his eye by the wheel and he realised that the keys were still in the ignition, he dared not turn in on with the burning engine.

Something slammed against the side of the car and the window on his right smashed, bloody hands swiped and he jumped back to the other seat.

"uughh," he groaned as his ribs were impaled by a large object, pain swept up his already injured back and he looked down.

In-between the seats, a shotgun was locked down. The thing started to push it's way through the broken window and Andrew grabbed the barrel and pulled, but it didn't budge. The damm gun was locked tight, one of the thing's hands caught the keys which fell from the ignition and Andrew's eyes saw a small key on the key ring.

He grabbed the keys and shoved them in the lock, the creature edged further into the car, slowed by the broken glass that was sticking in it's stomach from the window.

The lock clicked and he grabbed the gun, swinging it into his shoulder, but the thing lunged at him. He fell back, hitting the door hard and it flew open, throwing him out onto the concrete.

Picking up the gun he brought it into his shoulder, the thing's foot was caught on the glass now and he lowered the shotgun. Taking one last look at the radio, he decided it wasn't worth risking his life for.

He gripped the gun hard and made for the street, ducking down behind the car again. Looking around, he saw that there were at least ten more wandering around, he would never make it unseen this time.

"Shit," he muttered, the gun ready to put down any that came his way," better get this over with,"

He stood up and sprinted across the street, through the thick smoke and burning cars.

They moved fast, as soon as they saw him they were running like the devil was chasing them.

One appeared from the alley he was going into and he stopped, bringing the gun into his shoulder again.

"Stay there," he said, but it moved towards him.

Without thinking he pulled the trigger. A deafening blast echoed in his ears and he blinked as the recoil made him stumble, the thing's chest exploded and it flew back into a pile of rubbish.

Grinning, he moved into the alley and the rubbish moved, the thing was standing back up.

"What the fuck?" he said.

He ran forward and looked back just as they reached the nearest car, jumping over it they didn't falter in their step. The one he shot was twitching as it tried to run, but it fell over and started crawling.

"Come on!" Claire cried as the ladder came down.

The ladder crashed down and he leapt onto it, but cold hands tore at his t-shirt.

"Fuck off," he cried smashing down hard with the shotgun butt, he heard a crack and the grip was loosened.

He scrambled up the ladder, keeping the shotgun in his hand. He felt more hands grip his feet as he climbed and he lost the grip with his trainers on the ladder. The hands pulled and he also lost his grip with the hand holding the shotgun, swinging on one hand and with the gun in the other, the muscles began to strain in his arm.

"Help," he called, but Claire was gone from the top of the ladder.

Looking down, there were fifty or so of the things trying to get him. For a second his hand slipped and he thought he was going down, aiming the shotgun down with one hand he aimed wildly and pulled the trigger.

It clicked, and swung uselessly in his hand.

'So this is it,' he thought.

At that moment, a huge black object fell past him into the ground, dust was thrown up in a huge cloud and hands pulled him up the ladder.

Looking down, his sofa lay on top of those that had been gripping him. There was a loud crack and the ladder broke off, Larry stood by it with a knife, he had hacked away at the rusty joints of the ladder causing it to fall.

"There's something you should see on the TV," Larry said helping him up, "you ok?"

"Yeah," Andrew said," but something's wrong with these things, I shot one clean in the chest and it got up,"

"We saw," said Claire, scratching at the bandage around her arm.

"Lets go and see what the TV has to say," Andrew said, picking up the shotgun and going inside……………….

_More soon as I can…….._


	4. Newsflash

_Ok the fourth part…_

Andrew sat down on the kitchen chair, while Larry turned up the volume on the TV.

He laid down the gun on the table and Claire appeared from the bathroom with a towel to clean the blood from Andrew's back.

"Thank you for staying tuned," the news reporter on the TV said," we have now established a live link to the Ministry of Defence who are about to release a statement on the current crisis that is sweeping the country,"

"Good evening," the spokesman for the MOD said," Due to the unexplained outbreak of violence that started in the Madison area today, the following procedures must be taken by all civilians unless accompanied by police personnel:

Lock all doors and windows

Do not attempt to leave the cities

Stay in your homes until given further instructions

I-" A piece of paper was handed to him," Centre for disease control teams have been dispatched as all wounds caused by those subject to the violence have shown immediate infection, leaving patients in a critical condition.

So far the following areas have been affected by rioting and violence:

Southern Los Angeles

Madison

Texas

Ohio

Colorado

There are also reports of rioting in the UK and in China, though these reports are not thought to be related to the violence here. No questions please"

The screen flickered back to the news studio.

"More news as we have it, back to local news, the mayor has issued an order for everyone to stay in their homes, locking all doors and windows until further notice. If you or a member of your family has been injured, please do not call the ambulance service as all lines are busy at this time. Please come to the nearest hospital immediately where you will be safe for the time being, well I'm Mary Ferguson and this is channel 5 news, the time is 8:07pm and we will return at 9:00pm with an update of the unexplainable violence that seems to be spreading across the country,"

The TV switched back to advertisements, and Larry came over.

"You know how to use that?" he said, nodding at the gun.

"Not really," Andrew replied.

Larry picked up the shotgun and cocked it.

"I took a few shooting lessons," Larry said.

"Maybe you should keep it," Andrew said.

"No," Larry replied, "I know how to use it, but I cant hit shit, just cock it after every shot,"

"Ok," Andrew said," but what use will it be? I shot one and it didn't die,"

"I've seen a shotgun blow off a guys leg once," Larry said," it went off at blank range by accident, If you cant kill them, blow their fucking kneecaps off,"

"You want a beer?" Andrew asked, pointing to the fridge " and we should also think about making sure theres no more of them in the building,"

"Yeah," Larry replied.

"Claire?" Andrew asked, looking around.

She was gone and the bathroom door was closed.

There was a loud thump and crack in the corridor, both Larry and Andrew jumped up as running footsteps went past the door.

Andrew grabbed the shotgun and Larry looked through the spy hole.

A women's scream from upstairs made them freeze and they looked at each other.

"We should go and help," Andrew said.

"Agreed," Larry replied, "I'll open the door, you ready?"

"Yeah," Andrew said, aiming the gun at the door.

Larry grasped the handle and wrenched it hard, ducking down to one side as he did, but no one was there.

Stepping out slowly, Andrew looked towards the stairwell first, but there was no one there, looking the other way he saw that Claire's room door was broken open and splinters of wood lay scattered down the hall.

"Claire," Andrew called, "Stay in the apartment, we will be back soon,"

He heard a noise from the bathroom, taking it as a reply he closed the door and they edged their way towards the broken door.

"Take a look," Larry said from behind him.

"Me?" Andrew said, looking back.

"You're the one with the gun," Larry said, his voice shaky.

"Then you take it," Andrew said.

"No way man," Larry said.

"We-,"

"I'm not shooting anyone-,"

"My days bad enough already-,"

"We are all having a bad fucking day-,"

Another scream broke their conversation and the sounds of a struggle thudded on the hall from above.

"Go and check the doors again," Andrew said, swinging around the corner to look in the broken apartment door, his baseball bat lay in the light," take the bat,"

"Where are you going?" Larry asked.

"I've got some kneecaps to break," Andrew said dark grin, turning and running up the stairs to the second floor Larry took the bat and went the other way to downstairs……………


	5. Other People

Andrew reached the top of the stairs and looked around, at his feet was a trail of blood leading to an apartment door that was open.

Inside, a muffled thumping could be heard. Andrew edged towards the door and listened, the thumping was louder now.

He swung around the corner, the shotgun ready. The thing that had escaped from Claire's apartment was smashing it's bloody fists against a door, which was splintered in places.

"Hey," Andrew said, stepping into the room.

It turned and watched him for a moment, a wild look in his eyes. The blood was on the thing, the trail ended at his feet and was covering the door.

It moved and Andrew aimed low and squeezed the trigger, the thing collapsed and it's leg spun across the floor, stopping at Andrew's feet and the thing smashed hard into the table which broke apart.

Andrew cocked the shotgun and the ejected shell sprang out with a clunk.

"Is anyone in there?" Andrew asked as the thing tried to turn around, sliding in it's own gunky leg.

"Fuck off," a man's voice replied," you try and get in here I'll kill you,"

"We have to go," Andrew said, the thing was crawling towards him now," we have to stay together, there may be more of those things coming, let's go,"

The door opened a crack, a man's bloody face appeared and looked down at the thing on the floor, he looked about forty.

"You shoot it?" he said looking at the gun.

"Yeah," Andrew replied, "Look if your worried I'm with them, have this,"

Andrew held out the gun and the man eyed him suspiciously, he opened the door a little further to reveal more people behind him, huddled in the bathtub.

"I know your not with them," the man said, picking up an iron pipe," I was just shocked to see someone else that's not crazy,"

"If you come downstairs," Andrew said, "I'm going to try and gather everyone together and work out what we're going to do,"

"Ok," the man said," but listen to me, if that gun comes anywhere near my family, I'll kill you,"

"Fair enough," Andrew said.

The man came out of the room, followed by a women his age who was carrying a baby. A young boy about ten who looked like the man followed them, looking at the thing trying to find it's way through the maze of chairs and sofa.

"Stay back, Brian," the man said," stay back, and don't look,"

They pressed themselves against the wall and made for the door, Andrew closed it as they went into the hall.

"I'm Andrew," he said.

"David," the man said," but people call me Dave, this is my wife Amanda, my son Brian and my baby daughter Rachel,"

"Nice to meet you," Andrew said, but Amanda's eyes fell on the gun," my apartment is room 16, heres the keys, there's a girl called Claire and a guy Larry who will help you,"

"We would rather stay here," Amanda said.

"No," Dave said darkly," we're going downstairs, we will be safer if we all stay together until we know what's going on,"

Amanda looked at the ground.

"I'll meet you there," Andrew said.

"Where are you going?" Dave asked suspiciously.

"I'm going to see if anyone else is around," Andrew said," be careful,"

Andrew waited until they went downstairs and then he knocked on the closest door, but there was no answer.

He went to the next, but again no answer. At the third door he saw it was also ajar, number 23. He touched the door and it flung open, an old women jumped him and he didn't have time to raise the gun. He fell down, his head smashed into the wooden floor and the gun skidded away down the hall. He put his hands around her neck but she threw them off, growling like a wolf she smashed his head again hard against the ground.

He felt dazed but he put his hands up as her face came towards his, her teeth millimetres from his cheek. She was unbelievably strong for her age, and she wasn't giving up.

Just then, blood sprayed from the side of her skull and a wrench came down a second time, she let go of her grip and rolled off, twitching on the ground she tried to stand but the wrench came a third time and the women slumped into the ground and lay still.

Looking up, Andrew saw the man Conrad with another man and women, both about twenty.

"Thanks man," Andrew said.

"Didn't do it for you," he replied, "just didn't know where your apartment was, heard everyone's going there to decided what to do next,"

Andrew held out his hand, but Conrad stepped back. The other man helped him up.

Picking up the gun, Andrew looked at the two new people.

The women had a nametag and name of the restaurant down the road on it, her name read: Heather.

"I'm Robert," the man said, "my sister Heather,"

"You ok man?" Andrew asked, Robert had three scratches on his neck that were bleeding a little.

"Some bitch got me," he replied," but I'll be ok,"

"Ok," Andrew said," we'd better get downstairs before more of them turn up,"

"Ok boss," Conrad said sarcastically, but closed his mouth when Andrew took the gun in both hands.

"Let's go," Andrew said.

As they went towards the stairs, Robert lit up a cigarette and Conrad eyed the gun as they went down.

Andrew glanced back at the old women, Conrad had killed her somehow, but he wouldn't be able to find out how from someone like him………..


	6. Friends and Enemies

_Thanks for the MOD tip, I'll try and remember it for later._

_The story is set in the USA. Sorry for any confusion._

Andrew knocked on his apartment door, he could hear voices from the others inside.

Conrad, Robert and Heather were close behind as Larry opened the door and let them in.

Sitting at the table was Dave and his family. Larry stayed by the door and looked up and down the corridor before closing it and putting a cabinet in the way.

Larry stood guard by the door and Andrew went to the TV, the clock on top read 8:26, they had some time to work out what was going on before the news came back on.

"So," Dave said, "anyone want to explain what's going on?"

"The news said everyone's going crazy," Andrew said placing the gun on the side by the TV, " theres another news report at 9,"

Dave nodded and Andrew looked around at the others, they were well looking at him.

"We should stay together until we know whats happening," Andrew said," you ok, that looks nasty,"

Robert looked up, and felt his face.

"Yeah," he said, "I'll get it cleaned up, mind if I use the bathroom?"

"Go ahead," Andrew pointed, leaning against the worktop," but I think Claire's in there,"

"Who's Cla-," he began, but the door broke opened and Claire leapt onto him as he turned the handle.

"Hey," Andrew said, grabbing her shoulders and pulling her back," what are you doing?"

She held on to Robert hard, but Andrew managed to throw her off. She landed back in the bathroom and Andrew looked in, her face was crazed and she snarled as she ran forward.

"Kill her!" someone said.

Andrew grabbed her as she leapt at him. Robert took her other arm and Dave appeared with a sweater which he tied around her arm.

"Over here," he said, dragging her towards the radiator.

They tied her arm to it with the sweater and jumped back as she swiped at them with her other arm. Larry took off his jacket and Andrew put a foot on Claire's arm as Larry tied it.

"Get the gun," Andrew said, looking at Heather, who was the closest.

"Hey," Conrad said, walking towards her as she lay her hands on it," I'll take that hunny,"

She looked between Andrew and Conrad, while Claire struggled against the restraints.

"I-," she said but fell short as one of the sweaters ripped.

"Give me the damm gun," Andrew said, stepping closer.

Conrad looked at Andrew and then Larry, who was next to him with the bat. Dave watched him from the corner and Robert looked worried, his neck now had two new scratches that were bleeding.

Heather threw the gun towards Andrew and he caught it in both arms, Conrad narrowed his eyes and Andrew turned to him.

"How did you kill that thing upstairs?" he asked Conrad.

"Give me the gun and I'll show you," Conrad replied holding out his hands.

"No chance," Andrew replied.

There was a sharp snap, looking back over his shoulder Claire jumped Robert again.

Larry smashed the bat over her head and it broke in two, shattering splinters over her she flinched and looked up, Andrew pulled the trigger and her skull exploded, she fell limp and crashed into the floor.

Robert kicked her off and scrambled away, Heather ran to him and helped him up.

Andrew kept the gun aimed at Claire, but she didn't move.

"She dead?" Larry asked.

"I think so," Andrew said.

"We cant stay here," Dave said, "I'm not staying here with that gun, I was gonna just tie her up but you shot her"

Dave got up and led Brian to the door, Amanda followed carrying the baby.

"Your all crazy," he said," when the cops get here, your going to jail for murder,"

He opened the door and left, along with his family.

"Wait," Heather said.

"Let them go," Andrew said.

Conrad said nothing as he left, and Andrew turned to face Robert and Heather.

"I cant make you stay here," he said.

"You saved my life," Robert said, "whatever these things are, I'd feel safer with a gun around,"

Larry and Andrew threw the body over the balcony, Robert and Heather sat at the table, neither of them felt like eating.

"What are these things?" Larry asked, looking down at the hundreds that now swarmed in the street.

"I don't know," Andrew said, "but there hard to kill,"

"You killed Claire….or whatever she was," Larry said.

"I saw Conrad smash in one's head," Andrew said, "I shot Claire in the head, maybe that's how we kill them,"

"Hey guys," Robert called, "The news is coming on,"

As they came in from the balcony, Robert was examining the gun, four shells lay on the table.

"You've got four bullets left," he said.

Andrew couldn't help but wonder:

What happens when they run out of bullets?


	7. Wake Up Call

All Andrew could see was the corridor, candlelit with long shadows.

He looked around, he didn't remember coming outside the apartment and he didn't have the gun.

"Hello?" he said as he walked, the end of the passage was too dark to see where it ended.

The doors either side was numbered, first he walked past 94, but just as he passed it he realised there wasn't that many apartments in the building.

He turned to go in, but the door was gone.

"What's going on?" he asked.

"I've come for the gun," Conrad's voice answered.

Andrew looked over his shoulder to see him standing in the centre of the passage, his eyes dark.

"Where am I?" Andrew asked.

"I can't shoot him," Larry said from behind him, he had the gun in his hands.

Andrew turned to him.

"Here they come," Larry said pointing.

The world around him blurred and he found himself standing in the street, thousands of shadowy figures surrounded him in the dark.

"All I wanted was the gun," Conrad's voice said," after I killed you, I was going to ring your parents and let them know, don't worry,"

The figures came towards him and suddenly everything went blinding white.

Andrew sat up in the chair and shuddered, beams of light were breaking through the blinds.

'Just a nightmare,' he thought.

Getting up from the chair he felt a dull pain in his side, the bruise from the police car was huge now, shiny blue and nasty.

Larry was laying on the spare mattress by the balcony, still asleep.

The TV had told them little the night before, only that more areas were reporting violence and rioting. The gun was still on the table, Larry had loaded it again and left it there.

Robert wasn't around, but Andrew could hear the sounds of water running in the bathroom and his bedroom door was still closed, telling him that Heather was still asleep.

Walking to the kitchen, Andrew turned on the TV and tuned it into the news.

"….is no longer considered a safe haven, all contact with police forces in the coast have also been lost. A special swat taskforce has been dispatched and civilians in those areas unaffected by the violence are advised to remain inside and find a way to signal rescue helicopters when they pass over,"

"It has been confirmed," the news reporter said," that the violence that is spreading throughout the country and various other places around the globe is in fact the result of a virus, how this virus spreads has not been confirmed by the Centre for Disease Control although it has been suggested that those unaffected stay away from those infected, if this is deemed impossible, remove any infected from your place of refuge to ensure the virus does not spread."

"Damm," Robert said as he walked in," is this for real?"

"Looks that way," Andrew replied, "there maybe more of them in here, we have to get them out of the building, or kill them,"

"I'm not much for killing," Robert said, "but it may be the only way, opening the doors will just let me in if we try and throw them out,"

"Ok," Andrew said rubbing his bruise," but we need to save the gun's ammo, only shoot if we have to. It could be a while before the cops get here,"

"Hey," Robert said," don't worry about that guy Dave and killing that girl, it was self defence and I'm sure everyone here will back you up,"

"Morning," Larry said yawning, "I need some coffee,"

He started to make some coffee while Robert and Andrew sat at the table with the gun.

"So," Robert said," how should we do this?"

"Do what?" Larry asked, "got any sugar?"

"Left cupboard," Andrew replied," we think we should check the whole building for those things, did you here the news?"

"What news?" Larry asked.

"They said its some kind of virus making people go crazy," Andrew explained," and that there are some swat choppers or something flying about looking for people who are not crazy, we should think about making a signal on the roof,"

"I got some fireworks in my apartment," Robert said.

"Ok then," Andrew said standing up," I'll take the gun and go with Robert, we will go to his apartment and get the fireworks. Then we will check the doors and other apartments, when we get back we'll all go to the roof and see what we can see,"

"Am I staying here?" Larry asked.

"You stay with Heather," Andrew said," don't let anyone in,"

"As if I would," Larry said, "I don't know who I am more worried about, those things or Conrad with a gun,"

"What do you mean?" Andrew frowned.

"Oh, come on," Larry laughed," you must have seen the way he is with the gun, he wants it,"

"Maybe," Andrew said," but the only people I trust with the gun are in this apartment,"

"Hey I just remembered something," Larry said," I met a repair guy in the basement yesterday morning, his toolbox was still there when we got those washing machines but he wasn't. I think I saw a hammer and nails, we could board up some windows, I know the ground floor ones are too high to climb up but its better being safe,"

"And the hammer will be a good weapon," Robert said," we should go there first, I don't want to be wandering around without something to defend myself with,"

Andrew lifted up the gun and groaned, his side hurt a lot.

"What's wrong?" Larry asked.

"I bruised my side yesterday," Andrew replied.

"You can barely hold the gun," Robert said," I'll take it until you feel better,"

Andrew looked at him for a moment and then handed it over.

"You know how to use it?" Andrew asked.

"Yeah," Robert replied.

"Ok lets go," Andrew said going to the door.

"Good luck," Larry called as they left.


	8. Barricade

As Andrew and Robert reached the ground floor, they could see that the washing machines weren't going to hold them. Two had already fallen from the pile and were laying smashed on the wooden floor. As they passed, one of the things got it's arm through the gap in the door, but was at least a metre away.

"We will have to come back to this," Andrew said," its not going to hold them forever,"

They continued to the door labelled basement, this was where he and Larry had got the old washing machines from. Robert went first, the gun aimed down the dark stairs. Andrew flicked on the lights and they descended into the room. At the back was a door, possibly a storeroom for cleaning materials. Against the wall lay a few broken pieces of the washing machines which had a toolbox laying next to them, half open.

"I'll take a look at what tools are here," Andrew said, "you check around,"

Robert nodded and moved off to one side while Andrew knelt and opened the box, inside were various tools, include some smaller wrenches than the one Conrad had, though they were of the same design. There was also a box of nails and some screwdrivers, at the bottom of one of the compartments Andrew found a hammer with claws for pulling out nails on one side. He packed the toolbox away into a large shoulder back that lay next to it, the name of some repair company was on the side.

Glancing around, he saw Robert was searching behind some piles of mouldy laundry.

"Find anything?" Andrew asked.

"All clear," Robert said," wait…,"

"What is it?" Andrew asked, reaching into the bag for the hammer.

"There's blood here," Robert said kneeling by a door with a rusty sign saying storeroom.

"We should look inside," Andrew said, putting the bag down and holding the hammer ready," remember, shoot them in the head if theres any inside, it seems to work good enough at stopping them,"

Andrew grabbed the door handle and Robert took a few steps back and aimed the gun at the door. Andrew listened, behind the door he could hear the clunk of pipes, as though there was some kind of machinery behind the door.

He pulled the door slowly, which creaked on it's hinges. Moving to one side, he watched as Robert edged towards the door.

Andrew looked in, but all he saw was darkness. He felt around the side of the door for a light switch but he couldn't find one.

As his eyes adjusted, he could see a dark room with a hole at the other side, possibly a tunnel leading into the sewers.

"You see anything?" Robert asked.

"We should find some torches," Andrew suggested," stay here, and don't let anything come through that door,"

Andrew ran over to the bag and opened it, the toolbox lid got stuck so he had to close it and open it again. He fumbled around in the dim light for a torch, but he couldn't find one.

"What kind of a repairman doesn't carry a torch?" Andrew asked himself.

Robert didn't reply and Andrew looked up, he was squinting to see what was in the room, a look of concern on his face.

"What is it?" Andrew asked, but he said nothing and started to back away, which became a backwards jog.

"Run!" Robert said and turned towards the stairs, Andrew grabbed the hammer and stood up just as something ran through the door, he rose it but froze as another one came through the door.

"Holy shit!" he cried and sprinted up the stairs, he could hear more of them screaming as they poured from the doorway.

At the top he turned and slammed he door, Robert was at his side holding it too, the gun abandoned on the floor.

Both men put all their weight against the door as the things hit the other side.

"We wont be able to hold them," Robert said.

Andrew dropped the hammer and held onto the door tight, the things were hitting the other side hard, even if they could hold it, the door would break sooner or later, after all it was made of wood.

"Any ideas?" Andrew asked, straining to hold on.

"Someone's coming," Robert said as some jeans appeared at the stairs to the second floor.

"Good," Andrew replied," they can-,"

As the man came down with a stumble, he looked at them with wild eyes and ran towards them.

"Hold the door," Andrew said letting go, he felt the weight of the things push it open a little and Robert put his back to a washing machine and held the door with his feet.

Andrew knelt and took up the first thing he found, the hammer. The thing jumped as it ran and Andrew swung the hammer at it's skull.

It collided with him, knocking him down he hit the washing machines. The thing lost it's grip and tripped over, landing a few feet away.

Getting on top of it, he brought the hammer down hard, blood sprayed over the floor, the thing twitched and tried to get up but Andrew hit it again, this time blood from it's mouth covered the floor.

Falling against the wall to rest, Andrew kept an eye on the thing, but it lay still.

"Some help would be good," Robert said groaning.

Andrew dropped the hammer again and pushed over a washing machine, jamming it in-between the other machines and the door, Robert let go and the door held.

"We need more than this," Robert said.

"Yeah," Andrew nodded, picking up the hammer again as Robert took the gun.

"I have one idea," Robert said.

"What's that?" Andrew said as he sat on a washing machine, out of breath.

"We get every fridge, freezer, washing machine from peoples apartments and pile them up on the stairs," Robert said," they are going to break that door eventually, this way we can block the stairs and we should be ok for a while,"

"Ok," Andrew said, thinking," once the first floor has been searched for more of them, Larry and your sister can remove all those things and make a barricade. But what about the food? We might be here a while,"

"We can stay in your apartment if that's ok," Robert said," When we get to mine, we can take all the food to your fridge and stay there. Just one thing though, what about Conrad and that guy Dave's family,"

"Their welcome to stay in my apartment," Andrew said," but I don't think they want to, and I'm not going to ask them,"

"Alright then," Robert said," we better tell Larry what's going on,"


	9. The Last Room

As they walked into Andrew's apartment, Larry stood up from the table and Heather appeared too.

"You guys ok?" Larry asked," we heard shouting,"

"Yeah," Andrew said," But they are in the basement, too many to kill,"

"What are we going to do?" Larry asked.

"If we pile up all the heavy stuff like sofas and washing machines, we can make a barricade on the stairs," Robert said.

"But how can we get out when help gets here?" Heather asked.

"Sis," Robert said," I haven't seen any cops out there, I don't think anyone is coming,"

"So what now?" Larry asked, looking at Andrew.

"Me and Rob will search this floor," Andrew replied," then you and Heather can start to move the furniture to block the stairs,"

"You think that will hold them?" Larry said, raising an eyebrow.

"Well," Andrew said," if it doesn't, we're screwed,"

"If we search in twos, we can search quicker," Robert suggested.

"Right," Andrew said," I'll take Larry, you and your sister search this side of the corridor and we'll take the other side,"

Larry looked worried as they went to the first door, he didn't have a weapon. Robert had the gun, he had already gone into their first room with Heather.

Andrew and Larry walked into the first room, Andrew had the hammer ready and went first into the door and breathed a sigh of relief, the apartment was empty, no furniture was inside. After a brief search, Larry wrenched a iron pipe from the wall and held it ready as a weapon.

The next room was locked, so Andrew kicked it in and Robert poked his head out of an apartment door for a moment to see what was going on, but this room was also clear.

Andrew went inside a third room one door down from Claire's apartment, Larry close behind, there was furniture in this one.

"Stay here," Andrew said," make sure no one comes out, I'll check all the rooms,"

Andrew looked in the kitchen and found blood on the floor, a thick trail of red led into the room he had just come from.

"Anyone out there?" Andrew asked.

"No one," Larry called back.

Andrew looked around a little, the kitchen was a mess, it looked like there had been some kind of struggle here. He walked back into the part where Larry was waiting and Andrew then walked across to the bedroom and looked inside, and found himself facing a bed stained with blood. The TV lay smashed on the floor and the bed covers were thrown about all over the room.

"Anyone in there?" Larry called.

"I don't know," Andrew replied going in," hello?"

There was no reply so Andrew looked under the bed and in the closet, both were free of danger. He turned to leave the room to search the bathroom, the only place he hadn't looked when someone ran past the door to where Larry was.

"Shit," he heard Larry say, followed by a clunk.

Andrew ran out of the bedroom and found one of the thing's had him against the wall, the iron pipe lay on the ground with a slight curve in it. The hammer found it's mark and the thing fell, it's legs giving way it smashed into the floor.

"Are you hurt?" Andrew asked as Larry rubbed his arm.

"I crushed it on the wall," he said," that pipe didn't do shi-,"

BANG!

A gunshot ran out making them jump.

Silence followed.

As Andrew reached the hall with Larry, Robert staggered from a room across the hall with Heather, blood covered his t-shirt. He held the gun in one hand and lent against the wall.

"You get one?" Andrew asked.

"Yeah," Robert breathed, looking around dazed," but I fell and hit my head,"

"Ok just one more room for us," Robert said.

Andrew nodded and looked at his side of the corridor, he had Claire's apartment to check and one more room by the stairs. They moved into Claire's apartment, the door was broken from the day before.

Larry stayed by the door again while Andrew searched the rooms, he found blood everywhere with a particularly large pool in the kitchen. But apart from the blood it was clear.

The last room at the end of the hall had Robert waiting outside alone when they left Claire's room.

"Heathers gathering supplies from the other apartments," Robert said," I'll stay in the hall in case some come out of this one while your inside,"

Andrew went in and Larry looked in the kitchen as they passed, there was food all over the floor and blood in the sink with stained bandages scattered over the worktop.

"Someone has been here," Larry said.

Andrew pointed toward the bedroom and Larry broke off to search, Andrew stopped outside the bathroom door and listened, he could hear water dripping into water inside. He pushed the door, but it didn't budge, it was bolted from inside.

"Anyone in there?" he said, but there was no reply.

He took a step back and kicked the door, which flew off it's hinges and fell to the floor. He rose the hammer as he saw a bloody figure on the toilet, but stopped dead as it didn't move.

Blood covered the women and the floor, her wrists were stained with semi wet blood, she was dead.

"What happened?" Larry asked as he looked around.

"Looks like she killed herself," Andrew said," rather than face whatever was outside this room, the door was locked,"

"Let's clear out the bodies on this floor," Larry said," then get to the rest of the building,"

"This is going to take forever," Robert said as they got back to the hall.

"If two of us search the second floor," Andrew said," two of us can go to your apartment and get what we need, you've got the gun, you should search,"

"Ok," Robert agreed," Larry can come with me in case I need help, you can take care of yourself but Heather better go with you and let you into my apartment, theres some bags in my closet with the fireworks, take whatever you think we will need from the apartment and- hey there you are Heather- and bring me some clothes, Heather can take care of that,"

"Ok man," Andrew said," We'll see you soon,"


	10. Candle in the Dark

_Ok, thanks for comments everyone, this is the last time I can post before Christmas as I wont have access to the internet until January, so I'm going to continue the story then, hope you have liked it so far, heres a cliffhanger for you until January._

The two of them entered Robert's apartment and Andrew entered the bedroom while Heather gathered food from the kitchen. He found the bags he was looking for easily, one was a backpack and the other was a shoulder bag. The fireworks were in a shoebox, the brightly coloured package stuck out slightly catching Andrew's eye. He opened the shoebox and carefully unpacked the fireworks, inside were three rockets and a few smaller things that were no good for shooting into the air.

He wrapped the rockets in a discarded sweater on the floor and packed them into the backpack, getting up from the floor he looked through the drawers for some clothes, Heather hadn't shown him where they were so he did it himself. It wasn't long before she came back though and beckoned him back into the kitchen.

"Thanks for giving me the gun," Andrew said as she sat at the table.

"Well I wasn't going to give it to that other guy," she replied," you know, he reminds me of someone,"

"Who?" Andrew asked, sitting opposite her.

"I don't know," she said," but I've seen him before, I have a bad feeling about him,"

"I think everyone does," Andrew said," but there's not much we can do about it, except keep that gun away from him,"

"Yeah," Heather replied.

There was a knock at the door making Heather jump, Andrew got up and went to the spy hole, but all he saw was black.

"It doesn't work," she said.

"Let us in," came Robert's muffled voice.

Andrew opened the door and they came in, both looking out of breath.

"I didn't hear any shooting," Heather said," was any of those things down there?"

"Yeah," Robert said," we found one with a blown off leg and one other on the second floor, but we smashed in it's head,"

"The only room we haven't checked is Conrad's room," Larry said," I think that's where that family went,"

"You find the fireworks?" Robert asked.

"Yeah," Andrew said putting the bag on the table.

"You guys want something to eat before we go up there?" Robert asked, switching on the TV, as he did a news report was on.

"……..has been confirmed, this is no longer just an American threat, every country is now reporting similar violent outbreaks.

In other news, local communities are being advised to form clean and sweep teams to help clear areas of those infected. Local police in small towns have managed to control situations, however most cities are falling to this unknown virus. All members of the home guard and military personnel must report in for immediate deployment. If you are stranded in the cities, please try to reach a rooftop to signal rescue helicopters which will be passing over at four hour intervals starting at noon today.

So far, the numbers of infected are reported to be at least one hundred thousand in the Los Angeles area alone, this is the only estimate that has come in so far, although this information may no longer be reliable."

"Ok heres the plan," Andrew said," two of us should go up to the roof, that barricade needs building so the other two should do that,"

"Robert should do the barricade," Heather suggested," all those days at the gym will finally pay off,"

"Ok then," Robert nodded, handing the gun to Andrew with a lighter," you go to the roof, the gun is just in case theres some up there,"

"So who's coming with me?" Andrew asked.

"I'll need some muscle if we are going to life all that stuff," Robert said," you've been hurt Andrew, so Larry can come with me. Just make sure nothing happens to Heather,"

"When your done," Andrew said," come up to the roof,"

_A few minutes later……_

The door opened to the roof and Andrew looked around, it looked clear so he called down the stairs and Heather followed him up with the bag of fireworks. She began to set them up and Andrew put the bag in the way of the door, the lock was broken and couldn't be opened from the roof side. He set the gun against a pipe sticking up from the floor and sat on another.

"Shit," he said jumping up.

"What?" Heather said standing up.

"The pipe is hot," he replied and leant on the edge of the wall instead.

"I thought a crazy was up here," she said," I'm just gonna test a firework, they are quite old,"

She knelt and lit the rocket and jumped back as it sparked, it only took a second before it shot into the sky with a whistle and a loud bang.

"I guess its all good," she said.

Smoke was rising from various places, the red of the fires burning through the streets glowed in the distance. The city was silent apart from the roar of the fires, there were no gunshots or screams, only silence. Those things were in the street below in their thousands now, swarming like locusts across the ruined city.

"We can fire this whenever they come over," Heather said standing next to him.

Andrew observed the city, no cops, no normal people, just chaos was left.

"What are we going to do?" he asked," the TV isn't telling us shit, some virus making people go crazy, I just don't get it. I thought there were people in the government to make sure things like this don't happen,"

"There probably messed up like everyone else," she sighed.

"Well at least we're alive and sane," Andrew said.

"Yeah," she muttered," when that helicopter comes over, we'll be ok though right?"

"I hope so," Andrew said looking down into the street at the things again," I hope so,"

As he looked over at the other buildings as something caught his eye, a flash of something two buildings away.

"You see that?" Andrew asked.

"What?"

"There!"

He saw it again, a flash, followed by two more.

"It's looks like a torch," Andrew said," one of those giant shoulder ones,"

"Wait," Heather said," I think it's Morse code, my Dad was in the army, he taught it to me and Rob when we were kids, but I was never good at it. Robert knows it, lets get him quick!"

She turned and ran back to the door, Andrew followed close behind, the gun leaning against the pipe going completely out of his mind. Crouching behind an air duct, a figure emerged and picked up the shotgun, a dark grin expression on their face.


	11. Resurrection

"Robert!" Heather cried as they reached where Rob and Larry were building the stair barricade.

"Almost finished," he said," What's up?"

"Someone's in the building down the street," Heather explained," I think they are trying to send a Morse code message,"

"Alright," Rob replied.

"I'll stay here and keep building this," Larry said," can I have the hammer?"

Robert handed it to him and Robert looked at Andrew.

"Where's the gun?" he asked.

"I-," Andrew stumbled," It must be on the roof,"

Robert was already away towards the stairs, Heather looked at Andrew in worry.

"If you here any shots," he said," close the door to the roof and never open it again,"

"umm…ok," she said following closely as they made for the roof.

Robert was ahead of him, creeping up the stairs, an iron bar in his hand. Above them, they could hear footsteps pacing back and forth on the stone roof, muffled voices carrying though the crack in the door that was still open by the bag.

"- wasn't part of the plan," Conrad said," I'm not killing anyone, just give me the gun,"

"Fuck you," Dave's voice replied, followed by a loud click," Your either with me or against me, I need to protect my family, we either kill them or I kill all of you,"

"With what?" Robert said stepping out of the doorway," It's only got two bullets left,"

Andrew followed, glancing back at Heather who nodded. They stepped out onto the roof to face Dave aiming the gun at Conrad who actually looked worried for the first time.

"I'm outta here," Conrad said turning.

"Stay here," Dave ordered," your all staying here on the roof, I'm locking you all here,"

"You'll never make it alive," Conrad said," two bullets, three of us, what's your plan smart guy?"

"Don't provoke him," Andrew said.

"Shut up," Conrad snapped," It's every man for himself, and I'm not dying in this shithole"

"You," Dave said aiming the gun at the stairs," I'll shoot her if any of you try and stop me,"

All three of them turned their heads, Heather was peeking around the door.

"Idiot," Conrad muttered.

"Don't aim the gun at her," Robert said stepping forward, but the shotgun barrel smashed into his stomach and he recoiled winded, he fell and hit the floor with a thump.

"Stay down," Dave said," I'm going to need these bullets for those assholes outside,"

Dave edged towards the stairs, the gun aimed at Heather who looked like she was deciding whether to make a run to help Robert or run back down the stairs.

Robert got back and looked angrily at Dave, as Dave almost reached the door Robert looked at Andrew with a look he had seen before. Andrew's friend had been shot a few years back, the look he gave Andrew was the same as the look on his friend's bed in the hospital. Robert ran forward, as the gun swung around to face him Andrew also moved. There was a bang and Heather screamed, but before Dave could cock the gun Andrew punched Dave on the nose, sending him reeling over the pipes and smashing his head on a thick broken pipe. Andrew jumped onto him, the gun the only barrier between them as both of them struggled to get it into their hands. Dave was strong, and knew how to fight. He hit Andrew with his fist, clipping his jaw he lost his grip and Dave rolled over trying to aim to gun at him. Andrew kneed him in the groin and Dave let go howling, the gun disappeared behind an air duct and Andrew got up.

Dave rose his head and Andrew kicked him in the jaw and he fell, blood pouring from broken teeth.

Andrew looked around to see Heather crying by Robert, who lay clutching his chest, there was so much blood that it had already spread to the door a metre away.

Andrew rushed over and tried to put pressure on it, but it was no good. Robert's chest was split open, his lungs flooding with blood, he would drown in it in less than a minute, anyone could see that. Though Conrad had already fled, bloody footprints in the blood showed he had headed for the stairs.

"Go now!" Andrew said.

Her reply was inaudible, she was breathing hard looking around frantically for some way of stopping the bleeding.

Dave was scrambling to get up, blood covered his face and he clearly couldn't see very well because of the blood on his face obscuring his vision.

"I'm sorry," Andrew said," he wont make it,"

Robert let go of his chest, his arm wavering, he looked at Heather and pointed towards the stairs.

"Go," Andrew said," I'll take care of Dave,"

Heather didn't budge, Andrew grabbed her arm.

"I'm sorry about this," he said, picking her up she squealed and struggled against him, he dragged her to the stairs and tried to push her through, but she held onto the frame hard.

"Just-,"

"Don't even think about it," Dave's voice said, the gun barrel dug into Andrew's neck," I'm going to need this bullet for Conrad, he's far more dangerous than you, but don't think I wont kill you if you try anything,"

"Alright," Andrew said.

"Good," Dave said," go over th-aagghhhhhhh,"

Andrew turned as Heather screamed again, Robert tore at Dave's throat and Dave put the gun into Rob's stomach and shot. Robert stumbled and fell down from the force of the gun and Dave dropped the now empty shotgun. Blood sprayed from his neck as he staggered and leant against the wall of the roof.

"I though I killed you," Dave said as Robert stood back up," what the fuck!?"

"Robert!" Heather said, trying to get to him, but Andrew held her back.

Everything seemed to move in slow motion as Robert went for Dave, as they struggled Dave looked at Andrew, a plead for help in his eyes as both Dave and Robert tumbled over the edge of the building.


	12. Against all Odds

Andrew let go of her and she ran to the edge, looking into the masses of infected swarming onto Dave, who was probably dead from the fall. Andrew held back, taking all what had just happened in, Robert knew he wasn't going to make it but had tried to stop Dave anyway.

"What-," Larry's voice said from behind him," I heard shots,"

"Long story," Andrew managed to say," Robert's………well I'm not sure, he was shot, then he died and got back up,"

"That's impossible," Larry said," Where is he?"

Andrew said nothing, pointing to Heather.

"Oh," Larry said.

Andrew picked up the gun and leant against the wall, thing were getting more crazy every minute.

"It's nearly 11," Larry called," we should be rescued soon,"

Andrew thought for a moment, somehow Robert had been 'infected' and any of them could be too. If everywhere was like this, they didn't have a chance, they needed that helicopter soon or they were going to kill each other off one by one.

………………………………………………………………….

"She's still over there," Larry said.

"We cant stay here," Andrew said," there must be somewhere that's safer, the army must be doing something by now,"

"All we can do is wait for the rescue helicopter," Larry said.

"Everything rests on that," Andrew said.

"What are we going to do about Conrad?"

"How should I know?" Andrew replied.

"Your…..," Larry started.

"What?" Andrew turned to him.

"Well….," Larry said," I cant speak for the others, but I look to you as the one we can rely on,"

"I see what your getting at," Andrew said.

Glancing over to Heather, she was still there at the side, staring into the masses blankly. He wondered whether he should go to her, he was worrying about Conrad, was he really dangerous?

Lost in thought he looked over the edge himself, the infected were reaching up to them from three or four stories below, wanting their blood. Andrew didn't care about any of those people, they were crazy and beyond help as far as he cared, it was those still sane he had to keep alive. As he looked over at the horizon, he saw rain clouds coming which would be there before nightfall. He turned to Larry who was also watching the sky, his ear tilted towards the clouds he looked like he was deep in thought.

"You ok?" Andrew asked.

"Shhh!" Larry snapped.

"What?" Andrew asked.

"Tell me you hear that," Larry said.

"Hear what?" Andrew wondered, thoughts racing through his head. Maybe he had caught gunshots on the wind, it would be nice to know someone was out there. At that thought he looked back at the building they had seen the torchlight from, but it was dark know, either they had given up or……..well he wouldn't think about the alternatives.

"What did you-," Andrew started, but was cut off halfway through.

A dull buzzing was steadily growing louder, as though a swarm of bees were approaching from the sky. The clouds above them were thicker now, black and circling the city, rain would come sooner than he thought.

Heather had joined them now, she was searching the sky too for the source, but no sooner had she started looking a dark object swung through the clouds and descended into the buildings, a helicopter.

"Looks like there're early," Larry said,"HEY!"

He started waving his arms but the chopper was still just a dot against the sky. Andrew pulled out the lighter and knelt by the firework that was propped and ready to go, it was time to get out of here. He looked up as he heard a whistle in the distance, someone else had the same idea with the fireworks.

"Damm it," Andrew said," we will have to wait until they have picked up those people,"

"Maybe not," Larry said, pointing the opposite direction.

Two helicopters were heading their way, one was a smaller helicopter, the second was a larger green helicopter, as it turned slightly the words U.S Army were just visible.

"Now that's more like it," Conrad's voice said from behind them, with him were the remains of Dave's family, looking like Conrad hadn't let them down lightly about Dave.

Andrew flicked open the lighter and lit the firework, standing back he watched as it fizzed, but stayed put. He tapped it with his foot and it shot of into the sky, a trail of light in the dark clouds. It exploded with a bang, green sparked scattered in all directions and all of them turned to watch as the smaller of the helicopters broke off and sped in their direction, the army chopper continuing towards the first firework.

As the small aircraft got closer, they could see two men in Swat uniforms hanging out the side, but the chopper had the name of some aircraft hiring company on the side. One of the men was strapped, leaning out of the side with a long rifle that had a scope on the top. The second man had a loudspeaker which he rose to his mouth as it hovered alongside the building, blowing dust up into their faces.

"We have no room on the helicopter!" a man's deep voice rang out," stay put, one of the others will swing by in a few minutes!"

The helicopter swerved away, moving towards the other signal that had been first. The army chopper had already reached there and was slowly landing on the roof.

Andrew took a pair of binoculars from the bag of Rob's stuff and looked into them, as the chopper landed, soldiers poured out into a defensive perimeter on the roof down the street, but something was wrong. Andrew could see two civilian's on the roof holding shotguns, the soldiers were telling them to drop their weapons from the looks of things, but they were refusing.

"What's taking them so long?" Larry asked.

Andrew didn't get a chance to reply, a loud bang echoed through the empty streets, heard over the sound of the chopper blades. The sniper in the Swat uniform had opened fire on the building as someone emerged from the roof door over there, three more people broke through the door and Andrew knew they were infected as the soldiers opened fire, which could be heard as a series of dull cracks from the distance they were at. The soldiers moved back, they had done this before, half of them gave cover fire as the other half tackled the civilians and dragged them onto the chopper, unarmed and struggling.

He didn't get to see anymore as another chopper blocked his vision, a fairly large white chopper with coastguard written on the side. A man was on the side in a Swat uniform, a rope attached to him, he jumped off with a berretta in his hand. He landed softly and looked around at them.

"Ok," he shouted," the kid first, then the women with the baby, the rest of you are on the army chopper."

He didn't wait for a reply, he grabbed Brian and strapped some cords around him. He was pulled up almost instantly and in seconds the kid was being untied. The army helicopter was off the other roof now, heading towards them fast for it's size.

Amanda was next, the baby tucked safely in her coat, the Swat guy had a quick look at the blood covering the ground as if to say whose was it, then he took Amanda up into the chopper. The helicopter swung away just as the third helicopter, the one with the Swat sniper appeared alongside the building, the pilot appeared to be arguing with one of the Swat guys and pointing at the army chopper.

Alerted by gunfire from the army chopper, he looked that way as it tilted to the side. Andrew could see inside the cockpit, the infected had got on aboard, away from their building, it turned rapidly and it's blade caught a building and flames ignited it. It exploded and the fireball of the Chinak chopper dropped like a stone towards the street. Looking hopefully at the other two, his face turned to despair as they were already speeding away towards the horizon, they wouldn't be coming back with a failed rescue as bad as that, hope was gone………..


	13. Blackout

The four of them watched as the helicopters disappeared into the clouds, the dull buzzing drowning out as the wind picked up, all of them wondering whether they were coming back.

"What now?" Larry asked, looking at Andrew.

"Yeah," Conrad said," What now? I don't think their coming back, we're really screwed now."

Andrew looked after the helicopters, but they were gone. Small patters of rain were dropping now and the sky had darkened.

"Inside," Andrew said," we need to plan what we're doing next,"

………………………………………………………………………..

They sat around in the kitchen, Andrew on a chair with his back to the door, Conrad was tapping annoyingly with the wrench against the wall and Larry was flicking through the channels on the TV, all of which said something like 'Technical problems' or 'off the air until further notice'. Heather was in Andrew's room, the door closed. It had been three hours and she still hadn't come out.

"So," Conrad said," this is fun,"

Larry gave up and sat down on one of the chairs, the TV's were out.

"No luck? Andrew asked.

"Nothing," Larry replied," It's like the whole world is just….gone,"

"Hoping for news?" Conrad asked," their all dead like we're gonna be,"

"Shut it," Andrew said," I'm letting you stay here because we need to stay together, not because I like you, be quiet or leave,"

"Is no one interested in my idea then?" Conrad asked, folding his arms.

"You actually want to contribute to the group then?" Andrew asked.

"The TV is out," Conrad said," but what about the radio?"

"You really think anyone is still broadcasting?" Larry said.

"It's worth a try," Andrew agreed.

He stood up and opened the drawers, he had a small portable radio in there. He took it out and put it on the worktop. Pressing the on button he tried to tune it, but there was no static.

"No batteries," Andrew said, taking the batteries from the TV remote and turning the radio on.

"…..system. If you hear this message, your area has been placed under martial law. If you attempt you leave your homes, you will be arrested and sentenced without trial. Please standby for further information This is the emergency broadcast system. If you hear this message…….

"Shit," Andrew said," there must be someone still out there broadcasting,"

Andrew tuned the radio, but the same message was being repeated on most of the frequencies. As he flicked through the stations, one was playing a different message.

"…..and the dead are walking. They have taken the lower levels of the radio station, we cant hold them off much longer. If anyone can hear this message, please help us, the chopper the army promised never came. These things are dead, I've seen it with my own eyes, It's just me and the security guard left now and we are both bitten, I don't believe it's the bites spreading this insanity, it cant be. They are going to break in, he's in a bad way, please help us, anyone. We are at……."

"We can't help them," Larry said.

"No," Andrew agreed.

"So what are we going to do?" Conrad asked.

"We have got to find a way out of here," Andrew said," If only my car wasn't being repaired,"  
"Hey," Conrad said," maybe you haven't looked outside, but there's about ten thousand crazy badass mother fuckers out there that are supposed to be the undead, you got any ideas about getting through them? Even with guns we wouldn't make it ten feet out that door,"

"There has to be a way," Larry said," What about the sewers?"

"They are down there too," Andrew said.

At that moment, the lights shut off, and the lights from outside went off too.

"Shit," Larry said," this just gets better and better,"

Andrew took a flashlight from the same drawer as the radio and switched it on, as he did a light from outside flickered past the window.

"Is someone outside?" Larry asked, moving to the window and opening the door to the fire escape.

Andrew flashed the flashlight and looked into the darkness, the only light from the street was the burning of the chopper down the street. A light from a building down the street flashed back, someone was there for sure.

"If only we could reach them," Andrew said.

"Maybe we can," Heather said, holding out some keys.

"What's this?" Andrew asked, taking them.

"The keys to Rob's truck," she said," he is……was borrowing the company truck for the weekend,"

"We still wont make it," Larry said," they will turn over the truck, either that or there will be too many to drive through,"

"We need to find a way to tell those people we are coming over," Andrew said.

"I've got a better idea," Larry said," we don't have to go outside, why not just bring them in here?"

"We have a truck now," Andrew said," we can swing by, pick them up and get out of the city,"

"Well now that just leaves killing about ten thousand cannibals," Conrad said sarcastically.

"You know some Morse code right?" Andrew asked," Can you tell them we are coming to pick them up and get out of the city?"

"Not really," Heather said," it wont sound like that, but I'll try,"

Andrew handed her the flashlight and she stepped onto the balcony.

"One of us is going to have to be a distraction," Andrew said," want to pull straws and see who gets the shortest? Good………,"


	14. The Short Straw

_Thanks for the reviews people, even the bad ones, heres another chapter…hope you enjoy it…….._

The three of them looked down at the straws, each looking nervously at each other, Larry nervously shifting his feet. Heather was by the window, the only one of them not with a chance of going, Andrew had insisted they wear thick coats so they didn't get bitten, as it appeared that was how it spread now. Heather was flashing the flashlight, a look of strain on her face as though she was trying to remember how to do something. She looked back at Andrew and appeared as dead as the crazies now, her eyes were swollen with tears, but she kept on with her job. Andrew wondered how she was handling all this, she looked in a bad way. He thought Rob was an ok guy, just trying to survive all this shit like he was, and he died because of one person decided to take things too far in protecting their own.

"Just so you know, dude" Conrad said," if I pull the short straw, I'll go, I wont hold back,"

"You better have a good plan," Larry said.

"I do," Andrew replied, hesitating to pull the first straw. He had mixed them up and didn't know himself which straw was shortest.

"They say anything back?" Larry asked Heather.

"Not really sure what they said," she replied," they have agreed to come with us, they said to give them ten minutes, to get ready I suppose, there are three of them, that's all I understood,"

"Time to decide," Andrew said.

"I'll go first," Conrad said," I want to get this over with,"

Conrad pulled the first straw from Andrew and looked up, they couldn't tell yet whether it was shorter or not. Andrew looked at Larry, who pulled the second straw, Conrad let out a sign of relief and grinned.

………………………………………………………………………………….

"So this is how it all turns out?" Heather said, sitting at the top of the stairs looking down at the barricade of washing machines and fridges.

The crazies had broken through the door to the basement now and were trying the get through the barricade. The four of them watched as they struggled, but there were no spaces large enough the break through.

"Is this the only way?" Larry asked.

"The straws decided," Conrad said in an eerie voice, trying to be funny.

"Your not the one who has to outrun a horde of fucked up cannibals," Andrew said,

"so, this may be the last time we see each other guys,"

Larry held out his hand, Andrew took it and shook.

"You know what to do?" Andrew said," and where we have to meet up?"

"I'll be there," Larry said," you can count on me,"

"Thanks" Andrew said, turning to Heather as she appeared at his side," I guess it had to me, all my fucking bad luck,"

"Good luck," she said, hugging him," you'll be fine," she whispered.

Andrew looked at Conrad as she let go, and he nodded.

"Yeah," he said," don't expect a hug from me,"

"Ok," Andrew said," when you hear the signal, run for that truck, your lives will depend on it,"

Andrew went up into the apartment, the hammer in his hand, he was wrapped up in thick clothes. A scarf, coat, gloves and hat to prevent bites. He hoped this would work, if it didn't, they were all dead.

The others waited inside the building while he stepped onto the fire escape, looking across to the opposite fire escape he picked up the rope he had tied a hook to.

"This is it," he said to himself.

He tucked the hammer in his jacket and threw the rope, which caught on the metal on the other building. He pulled it hard and it held, He jumped and swung into the falling rain, towards a window on the building next to them. The glass broke as he hit it and he rolled, landing in someone's apartment. He got up and opened the door silently, peering into the hall, it was clear.

Cautiously he proceeded downstairs to the front entrance where he could see thousands of infected pressed against his apartment building. Looking around the street, it was more or less clear to his left, the way he would be going. In the distance, the burning helicopter was almost out, the rain dowsing the flames easily. He stood for a moment, wondering how this had all happened. The dead were walking, it sounded impossible, but it all fitted now that he thought about it. Once they were out of the cities, it would all be ok, they would find someplace safe and stay there, or maybe they could search some of the smaller towns outside the city, there wouldn't be many people out there. It occurred to him then, they had no plan after escaping the city, just to keep driving until they either found some more people, or died……

He opened the bag he was carrying and took out the radio, putting in a tape he turned the volume up loud, and got ready to press the on button.

"It's now or never," he muttered, getting the hammer in the other hand.

Throwing the door open, he sprinted outside with the radio on full volume.

One by one, the heads of the zombies turned towards him and he froze…………

"Come on then!" he shouted," I'm all yours fuckers!"

With that he turned and ran down the street.


	15. The Marathon

As he sprinted, he could hear the sounds of them close behind, catching up with every passing second. Looking back, he gasped. They were already just metres behind him, he turned sharply, into a dark alley he threw down the radio and flicked on a flashlight from his pocket. Shining it ahead, it was clear, except for piles of trash bags. Andrew jumped over the trash cans as he ran, almost slipping in a puddle of water he stumbled but managed to keep his balance. A clatter behind him said they were slowed down, but they wouldn't give up that easily. He ran out onto the next street and slammed into a body, it looked at him as he recoiled and he didn't give it a chance, the hammer smashed it's skull and it fell, blood going all over Andrew. He ran on as three more of them appeared from behind a truck. Looking back, he saw that thousands were pouring from the alleyway.

He got out the last firework and lit it, throwing it aside it exploded, echoing throughout the street.

…………………………………………………………………………………….

"You think he's ok?" Heather asked, hefting the iron bar as the zombies at the barricade inside heard the stampede outside and disappeared from view out the front doors.

"He made it," Larry said.

"How do you know?" Heather asked.

"Because they are still chasing him," Larry explained.

A bang echoed through the street and Larry picked up his own iron bar.

"You lead us to the truck," Larry said," I'll drive,"

Larry removed the washing machine and Conrad squeezed through the gap, followed by Larry and then Heather.

"Let's go," Conrad said," ready?"

"No," Larry replied," but we have no choice now,"

They opened the doors and stepped outside, but not all the infected had gone, two turned to face them, Conrad was already on one, the wrench splattered the thing and it fell away twitching. Larry aimed the iron bar as it lunged for him, and it pieced it's eye and emerged from the back of it's head.

"The truck's over there!" Heather shouted as three more of the zombies ran from the shadows……..

……………………………………………………………………………………….

"That's it motherfuckers!" Andrew shouted, breathing heavily," follow me!"

They were gaining fast, with the thick coat on, he couldn't run that fast. The wooden handle of the hammer began to feel sore in his hand as he gripped it hard, he didn't dare loosen his grip, it was the only thing between him and them.

As he kept running, thousands of undead chasing him through the streets, two more jumped out from the alleyway coming up, he swung the hammer without a thought and he wondered. Was he a murderer? Killing….well….stopping them with a blow to the head. He realised how little emotion he felt for killing one of them, he had no time to think now. Both of them had no chance to grab him, they fell with a blow each to the head and he didn't falter in his step. Up ahead, the smouldering chopper lay blocking the road, he could see shadowy figures moving through the wreckage. This was the end of the road for him, he had hoped there would be a gap, but the chopper was blocking the whole street. Looking over his shoulder, most of them were more than ten metres away in a huge horde.

He didn't have time to think though, as one of the zombies from the wreckage attacked him, he hammered it's skull repeatedly and jumped onto the burnt out chopper, as he did a cop zombie leapt up. A flash of metal from it's belt glittered off Andrew's torchlight. He smashed the hammer into it's skull and grabbed it's waist, dropping the torch he pulled the handgun from the holster and clicked off the safety. While he wasn't paying attention, one of them climbed the rubble and tore at his jeans. He grabbed her long hair and pulled back the head.

"Eat this fucker," he said, putting the gun in it's mouth.

Blood trailed through the air as he pulled the trigger, he pushed it off and another came at him. Two shots rang out and it thudded onto the wet road, Andrew stood up properly and shot another as the crowd advanced on him, and another followed by another……..

"Fuck off," Conrad shouted, punching the zombie on him, it didn't let go though and more were coming back their way. Heather was struggling with one that was tearing at her coat, she was almost on her knees.

Larry stamped on a women's head as she slipped in the water, grabbing the iron bar he thrust it into the head of the one on Heather and it fell, laying still. Conrad punched and punched, blood spraying everywhere as a zombie staggered back from the blows, something long appeared in his hand and he stabbed into it's skull as they reached the truck.

Conrad pulled a thick combat knife from the downed zombie and stood up, giving Larry a dark look.

"Where the hell did you get that?" Larry asked.

"You want to wait around while I tell you?" Conrad replied smashing the truck window and opening the door. Larry climbed in first, then Conrad. Heather climbed over them and sat in the back, blood trailing down from her eye.

"You get bit?" Larry asked.

"No," she said," Stupid iron bar caught my face when you killed one,"

Larry put in the keys as four or five zombies leapt onto the front, he slammed it into reverse and put his foot down, the truck skidded backwards with a series of thumps as he ran over some zombies behind them, the ones on the front fell off and he switched the truck into first gear.

The truck went forward, the engine revving loud as they sped forward.

"Which building?" Larry asked, looking in the side mirror, there were at least fifty zombies chasing the truck.

"There!" Heather cried, pointing as the doors of a nearby building flew open and three people in raincoats ran out.

Larry slammed on the brakes and they skidded, hitting a trash container which was thrown aside like a rag doll as it shattered against the wall.

"Open the back, dammit!" Larry said and Heather opened the back of the truck.

"Come on!" she cried as they ran forward.

Suddenly a zombie appeared from an alleyway and lunged at them.

"Look out!" Heather shouted and there was a flash and loud crack.

One of them fired again, the first shot had missed. The man jumped into the truck followed by a women, but the third guy had fallen behind.

"Roger!" The women called," fucking move!"

Just then, a zombie appeared and grabbed him, the guy still outside lifted a huge iron pipe from under his coat and the zombie flew into a car next to him, a second zombie grabbed him from behind as they caught up with him, and a third grabbed his arm and bit into it while the first recovered and joined in.

The man with the gun went to move, but the women held him back.

"It's too late," she said, pulling down the back of the truck.

Larry put down his foot and the truck sped away.

"We got one more stop to make," Larry said," someone created a distraction so we could get to you, we gotta go get him,"

"No problem," The man said, lowering his hood.

He was in his fifties, he had white hair and a thin white beard. A scar ran down his neck, looked like a surgical scar. He held up the gun, a .38 revolver. He opened the chamber and spent shells fell onto the truck's floor as he reloaded it.

"Only five bullets left," he said," cant waist them, the name is Ben by the way,"

The others, all except Conrad, introduced themselves.

"I'm Nadia," the women said, taking down her hood, revealing slightly tanned skin. From her coat she pulled a pack of smokes and lit one up.

"Let's pick up your buddy," Ben said," then get the fuck outta here,"

"My thoughts exactly," Larry said as they turned the corner, to see a crowd of zombies surrounding the chopper, but no one else was in sight.

"Shit," Larry said.

"Where is he?" Heather said in despair as they plunged into the sea of the dead………..


	16. Rollercoaster Ride From Hell

_Thanks for the reviews so far, heres another chapter……._

"Hoooolllllyyy shhhiitttt!" Larry shouted as they hit the crowd, bodies falling under the wheels of the truck.

Ben moved up to the front as one of the zombies reached through the broken window, there was a crack and it fell back, a bullet hole in it's skull. Heather was looking around the crowd, but she couldn't see Andrew. Larry kept his foot down, but the truck was slowly grinding down, soon they would be stranded.

"We have to go!" Conrad said, grabbing the wheel.

"No!" Larry said, fighting for control of the truck.

"Back off," Ben said, pointing the gun at Conrad," this guy saved our asses, we aren't gonna leave him out there,"

Conrad let go of the wheel and sat back in the seat.

"Alright," he said," I'll play it your way for now,"

"They are trying to get inside," Heather said.

"Of course they are dumass," Conrad said," we are in here,"

"Not in here," she said," the helicopter, he must be inside…...,"

………………………………………………………………………………..

They were having trouble finding a way up to him, that much was clear, there were so many now. Andrew had no idea how many bullets he had used, but he couldn't have many left. Seeing that they would be a few seconds, he checked his torn jeans, but there was no wound, he had been lucky this time. He heard a noise from inside the chopper and he knelt down, looking through a hole in the roof. There was someone moving inside, one of the zombies must have gotten trapped in the rubble. Looking around inside, he saw that the doors were crushed, the only way in or out was through this hole that he was next to. He gripped the gun hard in one hand and lowered himself into the chopper, darkness surrounded him as he looked around, he could no longer see much of anything. He moved cautiously through the chopper, something caught his foot and he shot into the dark. Feeling around, he felt something soft, just some army bag on the floor, he had wasted a bullet on it.

"Is someone there?" a voice asked, followed by the click of gun.

"Don't shoot," Andrew said.

A flashlight shone in Andrew's face and he shielded his eyes from the light.

"I thought I was the only one left," a man said," but it doesn't matter now,"

"There's a truck coming to pick us up," Andrew said kneeling by the man, who was laying on his belly holding an M16.

"It's too late," the man said," my leg's crushed, I'm bleeding internally, I'm a Medic so I know when I've had it,"

"I'll get you out of here," Andrew said, looking at the man's leg that was crushed under a heavy piece of metal.

"Don't bother," the medic said," I'm finished, if there's a truck coming, you better be on it,"

The medic looked at the M16 but put it down.

"This only has one bullet left," the soldier said," I'm saving it for me,"

"You sure about this?" Andrew asked.

"There's a sewage disposal plant," the Medic struggled to say," on the edge of the city……. ten miles south. That's where we were going next……. someone radioed us and said they were trapped inside. It used to be an old fort, its about as secure as things get now. Go, before it's too late,"

The lights of a truck shone through the gap in the wreckage and Andrew looked up as a figure appeared in the gap, it moved at him fast and the Medic fired his M16, hitting it square between the eyes, it fell back through the hole and disappeared.

"Well I guess I'm bleeding to death then," he said.

"I cant let you die here," Andrew said.

"Then finish me," the Medic said," I cant take it anymore,"

Andrew aimed the handgun at the medic and froze, it was all well and good shooting those things, but this guy was human.

………………………………………………………………………………

Larry hit the side of the chopper with the truck and halted.

"Fuck this shit," Conrad said.

"Come on," Heather whispered, Ben fired two shots out of the window as two turned towards the truck from the wreckage. More grabbed the side and Nadia started poking an iron pipe out the window to hold them back.

There was a gunshot and one of the zombies fell from the wreckage, tumbling to the hard road with a splat. Larry waited, revving the engine, but no one was coming.

There was another gunshot and Larry looked at the road, they couldn't wait any longer.

"I'm sorry Andrew," he said, putting down his foot.

They drove barely a few feet when something thumped onto the roof of the truck.

"They are on top," Ben said.

"We can sort that out when we stop," Larry said, as they drove back through the crowd.

…………………………………………………………………………………

Andrew emerged from the helicopter just as the truck revved and the wheels spun as they began to move away.

"Noooo!" Andrew shouted, running down the roof of the chopper, the truck alongside it, it was moving slow because of the zombies but soon he wouldn't be able to break through the crowd to reach it.

He ran down the rubble, shooting one of the zombies as they lunged, a second came at him and he shot it in the leg, downing two more as they tripped over it.

The truck slowed as it started turning and he jumped, slamming onto the roof, the gun in one hand, he held on tight with his other hand. Looking forward into the numbing rain, there were hundreds between them and their freedom, the truck would have a lot of trouble driving through so many of them.

He lifted the gun as two of them appeared at the back of the truck, he squeezed the trigger and one fell back into the darkness, aiming at the second he pulled it and the gun clicked. He dropped the empty handgun and lunged onto the zombie as the truck sped up, it held onto him as they hit the roof. They slid towards the end and Andrew grabbed the back of the truck as they tumbled off, but it grabbed his coat. Holding on as hundreds of hands tried to pull him down as they passed by, he kicked at the zombie from the top of the truck which was holding on by it's teeth by biting his coat. He unzipped his coat and pulled his arm from the sleeve, he looked down at the zombie as he took out his other arm from the coat while holding on with one hand.

"This is where you get off," Andrew said, letting go of the coat and kicking it in the face.

It fell into the crowd and Andrew tightened his grip while the truck broke free of the army of the dead, it sped up and he sighed in relief.

A gap appeared in the back of the truck and he found a gun in his face.

"Don't shoot him," Heather's voice said and hands pulled him into the truck……..


	17. Quick note from author

_Ok, just a quick note, the next chapter is coming soon as well._

_Sorry for any spelling mistakes, the damm spellchecker goes a bit crazy on me sometimes and spills out some weird spellings of words._

_For the person who said about the MOD and DOD, sorry about that, its my fault for not doing the research._

_But anyways, thanks for all the reviews, I appreciate everything people say about the story._

_Finally, please point out any spelling mistakes you see and I'll try and change my stupid spellchecker to stop the mistakes in the future._

_I hope you enjoyed the chapters so far as much as I've enjoyed writing them, more will be coming soon….. _


	18. Bad to Worse

Andrew lent against the side of the truck, they had been driving for two hours and so far all they had seen was a few 're-animates' as Ben called them, progress was slow with so many crashed and totalled cars. A few wandered the streets and couldn't catch up to the truck, they were as safe as they could be at that time.

Andrew pulled a wallet from his back pocket, the Medic handed it to him before Andrew shot him. Opening it, a photo of the medic on holiday at some resort with a women and a baby fell onto the floor.

"There was a guy, a solider, in the chopper," Andrew explained as Ben picked it up for him," he gave me this, he told me that a sewage plant south of the city might still be safe,"  
"I used to be a soldier," Ben said," got shot in the neck, too badly wounded to return to action,"

Ben pointed at the scar on his neck.

"The bullet lodged in my spine," he said," I was damm lucky, yeah right, I don't call two and a half years in a fucking hospital learning to walk again lucky,"

"You were paralysed?" Andrew asked.

"Might as well have been," Ben said," but it was ten years ago when I started walking again, I'm doing a lot better now and I'm still handy with a gun,"

"Speaking of which," Larry said as they turned a corner," we need to get some guns,"

"I don't know of any gun shops nearby," Ben said," I got this one from a shop out of the city years ago,"

Andrew opened the rest of the wallet and he noticed a piece of paper inside with hastily written words on it.

Dear Alyssa

I don't know why I write this, its all over, the rescue was a failure. I had to shoot three of my buddies as they joined the enemy from the grave when we crashed, the smoke was choking me, but luckily it rained hard enough to put the flames out.

Maybe I write this in the hope that you one day come looking for me or maybe just to feel as thought I died peacefully with no regrets, maybe I hoped you would find this chopper and know that I was sorry for all the shit ive caused you before the end.

Don't give up, there is still hope for mankind.

Look after our kid

Yours

Paul

"What's that?" Heather asked, waking up.

"A guy gave it to me," Andrew replied," I think his family is still alive somewhere,"

"Fat chance of that," Conrad muttered from the front seat.

"Do you ever say anything positive?" Ben asked," I don't trust that guy," he added in a whisper to Andrew.

"Yeah," Andrew nodded," we got that problem too,"

"You should keep that," Ben said, pointing at the note" if I was that guy's family, I'd want to know his last thoughts before he passed,"

Andrew watched as the two new people sat together and talked, Heather had fallen asleep again next to Andrew. Ben was talking, but he was keeping an eye on Conrad, it seemed no one ever trusted him.

Something flashed in the corner of Andrew's eye and he saw Conrad pull out a large knife, some kind of army issue combat knife. He began to wipe dry blood from the blade with his coat.

"Just where did you get that?" Larry asked.

"Let's just say the guy I got it from doesn't need it anymore," Conrad said with a grin.

"No straight answer as usual then?" Larry asked," just sarcasm,"

"Who's being sarcastic?" Conrad asked, looking back at Andrew who was also watching his every move, as Conrad turned away, that dark look came over his face again.

………………………………………………………………………….

"This is a fucking bad idea," Conrad said as they stopped outside a gas station.

"We are going to need gas sooner or later," Andrew said," might as well be now before we end up stopping in a big crowd of those bastards,"

"Ok then," Ben said," I'll go inside, check out the place for supplies, I still got a couple of bullets so I'll be fine. If you see any of those fucks out here, beep the horn twice and I'll come running,"

"I'll fill the truck up with gas," Nadia said.

"Ok," Andrew said," I'll watch your back, Larry…..keep an eye on Conrad,"

Ben went out first, gun in hand. Andrew followed closely while Nadia went off to the side to the pumps. Andrew looked around the gas station, laying off to one side was a thick piece of iron piping, from the looks of things someone had been repairing something. Andrew hefted to pole, it was hollow, but still quite heavy. He would need a second to swing it, but it would be devastating to someone's skull.

He looked around the street, no one except Nadia was in sight, Ben had already gone inside the gas station, but Andrew could not see him through the windows. Andrew sat on the side of the pump next to Nadia.

"So," he said," I heard you lost one of your people when you got to the truck, I'm sorry,"

"It's fine," she replied," we made it out, that's all that matters now,"

"Yea-,"

BANG!

A gunshot from the gas station rang out, Andrew stood up and as Nadia did she knocked the pump out and gasoline spilled over her boots.

There was a volley of automatic gunfire in reply and Ben appeared in the doorway at a sprint as bullets hit the door behind him, blowing out the glass.

"Run!" he shouted and Andrew pushed Nadia into the truck.

As Ben reached the truck a man appeared in the doorway in a red shirt, carrying an Uzi, he lifted it just as Andrew and Ben jumped into the back while a second man carrying a shotgun appeared behind the first man.

Larry put down his foot and they sped away on a half empty tank of gas, there was three loud thuds on the side of the truck, two of which spawned bullet holes in the side right next to Ben.

"We will have to go somewhere else for gas," Andrew said as the truck lurched.

"You think?" Conrad said.

"We got bigger problems," Larry said," he hit the fucking tire,"

They rolled to a stop, turning sharply, Larry looked in the side mirror. The man wasn't following them, and he could see why. A group of twenty re-animates had heard the gunfire and were on their way down the street towards the truck………….


	19. Twisted Fate

I _don't know why, but in the last week I've been in the mood to write more and more, so far 4 chapters have been up in the last week._

_More will be up sometime next week, and as always... I hope you enjoy it……._

"What are we going to do?" Heather asked frantically.

"We will have to make a run for it," Ben said.

Ben opened the back of the truck, as he did, the sounds of the Uzi's automatic fire came from the gas station, the re-animates spun around and began running towards it, being the closer place for fresh meat.

"We got to move!" Ben said, jumping down," now!"

Heather went first, Nadia and Andrew next while Larry was already out of the driver's seat and ready to go. The five of them grabbed the few supplies from the truck they could carry and got moving instantly, in a jog in the opposite direction to the gas station.

………………………………………………………………………………………

Ben was leading with Andrew, the giant metal pipe on his shoulder. Larry was with the two women bringing up the rear with all their stuff. Ben had defiantly been a soldier, he moved from place to place, observing each area in a quick sweep before they moved on, so far they had only seen two re-animates prowling the streets, and only at a far distance.

They were reaching the edge of he city now, there were only a few houses scattered here and there with no one on the streets. They moved silently through the cars and checked every body they found in the cars, just in case they surprised them when they moved on, but apart from one re-animate trapped in a wrecked car, the others were still.

"There's a shop up ahead," Ben said pointing at the small shop.

"Ok," Andrew said," we can get some real supplies,"

"I'll stay here," Larry said," keep an eye out for re-re….re-animetes? That right?"

"Nope," Ben grinned," keep an eye on…..where's Conrad?"

Everyone looked around, he was gone.

"Where did he go?" Ben said.

"Come to think of it," Nadia said," I haven't seen him since the truck,"

"Oh shit," Ben said, emptying his pockets," I think he lifted the gun off me,"

"What?!" said Larry and Nadia at the same time.

"Shhh!" Andrew said as someone emerged from the shop, wearing a bloody blue T-shirt, but only underwear and socks apart from that.

"Fuck," Ben muttered as the man turned and looked at them, as though trying to decide if they were undead or not from the distance.

"We can take him," Larry said," It's only one,"

The zombie started to run towards them and Andrew got the iron pipe ready, it ran screaming for blood and Ben walked up next to Andrew with a spade covered in dirt, glancing to the side of the road there was a half dug up garden.

The re-animate leapt into the air at Andrew, but Ben had already swung the spade at it's head. It stopped in mid air and crumpled to the floor, convulsing blood violently as it tried to stand.

Andrew slammed the iron pipe into the zombie's skull, splattering it across the road and finishing it off.

"Let's get some food," Larry said, pointing at the small shop," all I been eating today is shitty chocolate, I need some decent food,"

"Alright then," Ben said," we better get movin-,"

A volley of gunfire ran out and someone screamed, bullets whizzed by them into cars, blowing out windows and pounding on the road. Andrew fell face first into the ground, a sharp pain going up his right arm, he looked down to find blood pouring out of a small wound, possibly from a low calibre gun. He looked up the street as the pounding gunfire died down, standing in the road ten metres away was the red shirted man holding his Uzi, this time with the shotgun on a sling over his shoulder. A clip fell from the Uzi and the man calmly checked it over, then threw it down onto the ground, obviously he was out of bullets. He started to bring the shotgun round to fire when hands dragged Andrew behind a car.

"You hit son?" Ben said as Andrew saw Heather next to him, Larry and Nadia nowhere to be seen.

Her eyes were closed and blood was spewing from two bloody holes in her stomach.

"Oh no," Andrew said," not you,"

He moved to her, not sure what to do, blood was everywhere and she was losing it fast. He felt anger rising up inside him, uncontrollable rage and he gripped the iron pipe in both hands.

"You fucking bastard!" Andrew shouted standing up and running out.

A look of surprise appeared on the man's face as he raised the shotgun, Andrew swung the iron pipe at the gun, knocking it from the man's hands, the man recovered quickly and threw a punch at Andrew.

Andrew felt the ground under him as the world blurred, but the man was just standing there, cracking his knuckles. Then Andrew saw the man's knuckles, he had blunt knuckle dusters on and from the corner of his shirt, a thick blue pad was visible, he was wearing body armor.

"So," the man said," you ready to die boy? All I wanted was your ladies, but my friend is dead now because you ran. I'm going to make this……very slow and painful,"

Andrew stood up and looked around, Ben was holding Heather's wounds, trying to stop the bleeding, Larry and Nadia were not in sight. It was just him and the guy.

"Ya here me boy?" the man said," what's your name, I like to know who I'm gonna be killin,"

"Fuck you," Andrew said, brushing himself off.

"What's that?" the man said, putting a hand to his ear," you say somethin you little shit?"

Andrew lunged for the man, fists ready to pound in his skull, but the guy moved fast for his size punching Andrew in the stomach and then the jaw. Andrew fell back dazed, falling on his stomach as the man kicked. The boots were steel capped and hit in the stomach winding him, the second kick hit him in the ribs and he cried out as he heard a loud crack from breaking bones.

Until that moment, he hadn't noticed the pain so much in his arm, perhaps the adrenaline had kept it at bay, but now he felt everything. Gasping for breath, Andrew looked up to see the man unsheathing a knife from under his shirt, it was blunt.

"This is going to hurt, boy," the man said with a twisted grin, as thought he actually wanted it to hurt as much as possible.

"Not as much as it's going to hurt you," Ben's voice said.

Andrew looked over the see him holding the shotgun.

"First rule I learnt in the army," Ben said pointing at his scar," never turn your back to an enemy that's still alive, even if they appear to be dying"

He aimed low and pulled the trigger, the man fell as his kneecap exploded. Ben cocked the shotgun and fired again, this time at the man's groin. This time he let out a high pitched scream and rolled around clutching it, whatever might be left of it.

Andrew crawled over the Heather, who was bandaged up with a shirt. Next to her was Larry, who looked a little dazed too.

"You ok?" Larry asked.

"She needs a doctor," Ben said," I patched her up best I could, stopped the bleeding, but shes not going to last long,"

"How long?" Andrew asked.

"A day at the most," Ben said over the girly screams from the man who had shot her.

Nadia appeared from behind a car, a blue lump on her forehead.

"What the hell happened?!" she said staggering.

"You hit you head?" Ben asked.

"I don't know," she replied," it all just went black,"

"Fuck the supplies," Andrew said," we need transport now, we got to find a doctor,"

Andrew looked around, but all the cars here were smashed and nothing looked to be of any use. Ben took some shotgun shells from the man who was still screaming.

"What about him?" Ben asked, looking at Andrew.

"Leave him," Andrew said, fighting the erge to smash his head into the ground," he will buy us some time, the zombies will take a while to eat this fucker,"

Andrew was glad, that man was going to get what he deserved when the zombies found him.


	20. On the Run

_I couldn't resist writing another chapter, please review up to this point….._

He had the gun now, he didn't need them anymore. Killing them would be a mistake, he had two bullets and one of them was bound to take him out if he tried to.

'No,' he thought,' Austin can take care of them,'

He moved away silently as the group of five rushed off in the opposite direction, they were fools to think he would have ever help them.

"Austin," the man said as a guy in a red shirt appeared from the gas station doorway, an Uzi in his hand.

"You!" The man said pointing the gun at him.

"Don't shoot dumass," the man said," I have a proposal for you,"  
"You owe me big time," the red shirted man said.

"That's why I'm here," the man said," I know which way they went, and I can tell you want them,"

"I want their women," The red shirted man said," you tell me where they went, and I'll let you go, or maybe even stay here for a while if I come back with them,"

"That way," the first man said.

"You better be right," the red shirted man said, ripping off a red banner from the first man's head," as I don't think the cops will be around to stop me this time, why you still wearing that shitty bandana?"

The red shirted man put the bandana in his pocket and started a jog after the group of people.

The man walked into the gas station, he needed some food. As he checked around, he found the body of a man, a bullet hole in his forehead. It was James, one of Austin's gang members.

"Not so fucking tough now are you?" the man said kneeling down next to him.

As he spoke, something banged in the back room. He pulled out the revolver and leapt over the counter, knocking packets of sweets to the ground. He kicked the door and aimed the gun inside, to find a women struggling against the restraints on the chair she was tied up to.

"Looks like old Austin has been having a party in here," the man said.

As he leant on the doorframe watching the prisoner, something caught his eye on the door. He ripped off the poster and grinned at her, waving the picture of him at her.

It read:

'Corrad Vazquez,

Wanted on 4 counts of armed robbery

7 counts of murder

The families of his victims are offering a $10,000 reward for information leading to his arrest.'

"They spelt my name wrong," the man said," its spelt C-o-n-r-a-d, not C-o-r-r-a-d, and ten thousand dollars for information leading to my arrest. I'm worth more than that,"

The prisoner looked blankly at him, her eyes vacant , but angry.

"You go nothing to say?" Conrad asked, taking off the gag," don't you know who I am?"

Suddenly, her eyes turned from hatred to a look of intense hunger and she moved forward with phenomenal speed, her teeth biting deep into his wrist. He smashed the gun over her head and but she didn't flinch, he aimed the gun at her face and pulled the trigger.

"You crazy bitch," he muttered, before the realisation of what had just happened swept over him, she had been infected.

…………………………………………………………………………………………

Andrew woke with a start, the sounds of an engine beneath him rumbled and he looked up, trying to look for Heather in a panic.

"It's ok," Ben's voice said," the pain made you pass out, but apart from some broken ribs, you'll be fine,"

"What about my arm?" Andrew asked, his vision blurry.

"It's not bad," Ben replied.

"Why didn't you help me with that guy?" Andrew asked.

"I may know how to use a gun," Ben said," but I'm not as young as I used to be, I thought you and Larry could take him, except I didn't realise Larry wasn't with you. I'm sorry,"

"Where did we get the truck?" Andrew asked.

"Found it," Ben said," we decided to head for the radio station, back in the city. It's our best chance to find anyone,"

"You think she will make it?" Andrew asked.

"The bullets didn't hit anything vital," Ben said," but….,"

"What?!" Andrew asked.

"I've had to stop the bleeding three times," Ben said," it's bad, I wont lie to you. It's the blood loss she will die from. She needs real medical treatment, I can only do so much from bullet wounds I've seen in the past,"

"You think anyone will be left inside?" Larry asked from the front seat.

"No," Ben said," I was thinking we should barricade ourselves in, try to raise the military on the radio, if we can survive, they must be able to,"

"Sounds like a plan," Andrew said, trying to hold his side as he moved, but his right arm was in a sling.

"Andrew," Heather muttered.

"How are you feeling?" he asked.

"My stomach hurts," she said," I don't remember what happened?"

"You got shot," Andrew said," but it's ok, we are taking you to a doctor,"

"Where?" she asked, looking around and coughing.

""I don't know yet," Andrew replied," just hold on, ok?"

Her head lay back on the floor of the truck, her eyes closed again.

"Shes done that a couple of times," Ben said," She's still in shock,"

"Thanks for helping her," Andrew said.

"Sure," Ben said," next time I'll have your back, I let you down,"

"Hey," Andrew said," I'ts not your fault this happened,"

"I was looking out for re-animates so much," Ben said," I didn't think about that guy following us,"  
"How do you think he found us?" Andrew asked.

"I found this on him," Ben said, throwing a red bandana onto the floor," I thought this might answer that for you,"

"Conrad," Andrew muttered.

"I don't care how or why he told this guy where we were going," Ben said," but if I ever see him again, I'm killing him,"

"Me too," Andrew said.

"We're here," Larry said.

Andrew looked out of the front window to see a giant radar type dish on top of a building, outside were the bodies of at least twenty people. As they passed, they could see bullet holes in the heads of dead people, amongst the bodies there was movement here and there. Andrew looked to Ben, who was holding the shotgun, but he was way ahead of him. Ben lowered himself off the back of the truck and closed the back. There was a gunshot almost instantly, followed by another. Andrew waited as silence followed, a third shot rang out from further away and then silence again for a few seconds.

"All clear," Ben's voice said opening the back of the truck.

They filed inside, Larry and Nadia carrying Heather while Andrew was next to them.

A makeshift barricade of chairs and benches was in pieces, scattered all over the inside of the doors. Spent bullet shells, probably 9mm lay all around the desk at the front, which stood shrouded in crimson, from a corpse laying dead on top of it, a bullet hole in it's head.

Ben checked the front office, there was another re-animate inside feeding on a second. Ben dropped them both and looked around before reloading the shotgun and continuing into the back where noises of radio static were echoing through the empty corridors.


	21. Blaze of Glory

It was getting dark by the time they came, outside the gas station, hundreds of re-animates appeared from no where. Conrad sat against the wall, one bullet still in the chamber. He itched to pull the trigger, to finish it all, but he couldn't bring himself to do it. He had stopped the bleeding, but he could feel the virus taking over fast, he didn't know how long he had left before he became one of them.

Looking around the gas station, there was no way out, even if there was someway to escape, the virus would take him over. He aimed the gun at his head, he had to end it, he wasn't going to be eaten by them and that was the only way out.

The walls seemed to creep in as he hesitated to pull the trigger, he didn't want to die, not in a place like this, it just all seemed wrong.

'I can do better than this,' he thought, standing up and going into the back room.

He kicked over a crate as he entered, breaking open a cabinet in the back room he opened the tool cupboard, inside lay various saws and hammers. He picked up a heavy one handed hammer with a thick stone end and looked at the dead body tied to the chair.

"Lets see how good this thing is," he said, smashing the hammer into the front of her skull.

It exploded, blood spraying over the floor and he grinned. Conrad turned to leave, when he slipped on the blood, crashing into the floor. His head hit the crate he had kicked and he pushed it away, as he did something metallic fell from it and clattered onto the floor. The crate was loaded with guns………..

……………………………………………………………………………………..

"Poor guy," Nadia said, getting up from the floor.

In the main radio room, they had found three bodies. One was a cop, he lay clutching a 9mm berretta, a bullet hole in his own head. They had found no signs of re-animates entering the room, the guy had shot himself even though he wasn't infected. The other two people were civilians, both male and in their twenties. Both seemed to be human, with no signs of bites either.

Larry picked up the berretta and ejected the magazine, there was still ammunition inside. He searched the police officer but the other clips laying around the room were empty.

"I'm going to try the radio," Ben said, resting the shotgun on the table.

Heather lay on the floor and Andrew against the wall. She had passed out again, he didn't know how long she would last without a doctor, but it couldn't be long now.

"I'm going to take a look around," Larry said, cocking the 9mm and heading back to the main desk.

It took some time to sort out the radio, the power was still on so Ben assumed there was a generator somewhere in the building. Some time into Ben trying to configure the radio, two gunshots echoed through the building, Larry reappeared minutes later to say he had found another re-animate, but something else seemed to be bothering him.

"Hello?" Ben spoke in the radio," is anyone out there?"

The was silence in reply, unless you counted the static.

"Can that thing even receive transmissions?" Larry asked," I thought it was for broadcasting only,"

"I guess we will find out," Ben said," we at Roland Grove Radio Station, anyone out there?"

Ben tried changing the frequency, but still no one replied.

"I have an idea," Andrew said," try telling them the phone number of this station, the military are in control of the phone lines so they will be able to call us here,"

"Hello?" Ben said," the phone number here is….,"

Ben continued to speak into the radio, but the phone was quiet.

"Please," Ben said in to the radio on another frequency," we have two people who have been shot, we need help. The phone number here is….,"

"This is fucking useless," Larry said," we should head back to the truck and get out of here,"

"And what about her?" Andrew asked," she needs a doctor or shes going to die,"

"Look," Larry said," I like hanging with you guys and all, but I'm sick of all this running from place to place. We cant keep doing this,"

"What are you suggesting?" Ben asked, glancing at the shotgun.

Larry nervously tapped the gun on his side and looked at Ben.

"I cant take it anymore," Larry said, pointing the gun at his head.

"No!" Andrew said, trying to stand up.

"I…..," Larry said." I just had to shoot some kid you know? One of those fuckers was just a boy back there,"

He pointed to the corridor.

"Calm down," Ben said," just give me the gun, you don't want to do this,"

"I fucking do!" Larry said, taking off the safety.

RIIINNGG!

The phone sprang into life and Larry jumped, luckily not squeezing the trigger.

Ben lifted the receiver and Andrew could hear the conversation as the whole room had fallen silent.

"This is Captain Richard Bailey of the U.S Army," a man's voice said," you guys need a lift?"

…………………………………………………………………………………..

Conrad put the 9mm in his pants, Austin must have taken the rest of the 9mm ammo as it only had one clip. There was a colt python in the crate too, loaded with extra ammunition in some boxes. The third gun was a Scorpion machine pistol, not very accurate, but a hell of a lot better than nothing.

There were also two shotguns, both pistol grip and with a plentiful supply of ammunition. He stood at the window, watching the zombies circle the gas station. He scratched his arm, it was burning up now. There was no doubt in his mind, he was infected and the only way out was to die. But if he was going to die…….

"I'm going to take as many of you motherfuckers with me as I can," he said.

One of the zombies looked at him through the glass, he than realised there was something different about that one, although the violent intentions were still there, she looked normal. It was as though the insanity was gone, there was nothing to suggest she was one of them unless you knew for sure because you had seen her move with them.

"Let me guess," Conrad said," you're a fresh one,"

She slammed onto the glass and he decided in a split second this was it, now was the time. He slung one shotgun over his shoulder and the second he aimed at the glass, which exploded in a shower as the re-animate fell back, it's head with nothing left above the nose.

They began to catch on quick now that the glass was down, he fired again as two more jumped through the window. He dropped them both, but there was always another to replace them. It wasn't that he didn't have the ammunition, it was that he needed more hands with guns at that time. He was beginning to regret leaving the others now.

The shotgun clicked and Conrad smashed the handle into a zombie's face, but it didn't even slow as it bit into his hand, he dropped the shotgun, drawing the scorpion machine pistol. Holding down the trigger, bullets sprayed everywhere covering the counter in blood as four zombies fell, including the one that had bitten him just then.

He switched to the other shotgun as another window broke, they fell easily from shots to the head but there were just too many. In seconds, the shotgun was also empty.

His mind raced as he drew the 9mm with the colt python in the other hand, he headed for the doors as they tried to find a way to him through the mess.

He the doors flung open and three of them came through, the 9mm sprang into action, dropping two and he fired the colt at the third.

"Shit!" Conrad said as the kick sent a jolt of pain up his left arm, the zombie fell but at the cost of considerable pain.

He felt hands grip him as two zombies appeared from the darkness and the weight pulled him down, he fired the colt at one, but the second bit into his neck and he dropped it. They rolled around as another zombie joined the living meal with two more close behind, Conrad turned his head to the sounds of a stampede.

A least a hundred were coming his way, he gripped the 9mm and aimed it at himself, to end it once and foe all. But something caught his nose from the 9mm that had touched the floor, it was smothered in gasoline.

His vision began to blur and he reached into his pocket for his lighter, he flicked it on and took one last look at the zombies biting him.

"I'll see you in hell," Conrad said.

He let go of the lighter and the last thing Conrad saw was flames tearing through the zombies around him as the spilled gasoline ignited and spread to the pumps, tearing the street apart……


	22. The Last Stand

_Ok, I've been suffering from writer's block for a while and decided its time to end this story, so yes, this will be the final chapter._

_But I will be writing another Dawn of the Dead Story as soon as I get some more time on my hands, I hope everyone has enjoyed it, so here it is……._

"Yes, yes," Ben said," ok goodbye,"

Andrew looked over, Ben stood up and picked up the shotgun.

"So how long will they be?" he asked.

"They can get here in 2 hours," Ben said," but theres bad news too,"

"How bad?" Andrew asked.

"Those things seem to be heading this way," Ben said," the army saw them on some satellite images, we got to hold out until they get here,"

"Shit," Larry said, looking outside the window.

The zombies were gathering, there were a few here and there, but more could be seen stumbling down the street. The gun in Larry's hand was looking more inviting with each passing second.

"We need to lock this place down," Andrew suggested, looking across the street.

"No time," Ben said," they cant land on the roof, not enough space,"

"Anything else you want to tell us?" Nadia asked.

"Yeah," Ben said," they are going to land in the street, they are giving us a thirty second window to reach the chopper, that means when they start to land we have to haul ass out of here, across a street of a few hundred re-animates and get into the chopper,"

"We'll never make it!""This is fucked!" Larry and Nadia said at the same time.

"We have to," Ben said.

"Shut up!" Andrew shouted," look outside, tell me what you see,"

The others came to his side, Larry squinting and trying to count how many zombies were outside. They were gathering fast, more were starting to appear in the night, at least thirty now.

"Loads of re-animates?" Nadia said, a hint of sarcasm in her voice.

"Yeah," Larry agreed, frowning.

"Look closer," Andrew said.

Ben had already seen what Andrew had noticed, a sign was poking out from behind a building a few hundred metres down the street, it read 'Joe's Gunz'.

…………………………………………………………………………………………

"You think we can make it?" Larry asked.

"Yeah," Ben said," just don't stop running,"

"I wont have a problem with that," Larry said.

Larry handed the 9mm handgun to Nadia who looked at it confused.

"If we don't make it," Larry said," you guys need something to protect yourselves with,"

"No," Nadia said, giving it back," If you guys don't make it, we all die,"

"Ok," Ben said," keep these doors shut, only open them when you see us coming back,"

"Hey," Nadia said," be safe,"

"We'll be back," Ben said.

They all looked at each other, it was a desperate measure, going outside to the gun store, but if they didn't then those things would overwhelm them when move came their way. Andrew couldn't run with broken ribs and someone had to stay with Heather and Andrew.

Larry and Ben threw open the doors and were off at a sprint, leaving the others inside to wait it out. Nadia helped Andrew into the back where Heather was and disappeared to build a makeshift barricade in case they tried to get in before Ben and Larry got back.

Andrew sat next to Heather, who was mumbling in her sleep. She was on the edge now, he face was pale white with death. He checked her pulse, she was alive, so she couldn't be one of them yet, if she became one he didn't know if he had it in him to kill her. Everything had gone to shit, but they had made it this far, that had to be something. He looked up at that moment to see a man standing in the doorway, looking at him with crazed eyes.

"Nadia!" He called as it lunged at him.

There was a splat as something heavy hit it in the back of the head, Nadia stood behind it as it fell. In her hands was a fire extinguisher.

"You ok?" she asked.

"Yeah," Andrew said," where did it come from?"

"There must be few still in the building," she said," stay in here,"

She closed the door and Andrew sat back against the wall.

"It's ok," he said," help is on the way,"

…………………………………………………………………………………………

Ben was taking the lead, running at full speed past the zombies, not giving them a chance as Larry saw when they came across the first group blocking their path. Ben unloaded shell after shell, Larry didn't even get a chance to raise his gun before five of them lay in piles of bloody goop. They moved on, Larry trying hard to keep up, Ben reloading as they went. From their left, behind a wrecked car, two re-animates appeared and Ben swung the shotgun round firing twice in rapid succession, both fell without Ben missing and Larry stumbled as Ben took off again.

"Hey," Larry said," leave some for me will ya?

Ben said nothing as he moved off into an alley, Larry stopped at the entrance and looked after him.

"Your going the wrong way!" he called.

Larry turned to go the other way, and stopped. Behind them were at least a hundred zombies, right on top of them. Larry slipped as he turned to run and he felt something grab his back.

"Fuck off! Fuck off! FUCK OFF!" he shouted, pulling the 9mm trigger over and over again.

Shot after shot rang out and the hands let go, Larry staggered away and ran after Ben, still pulling the trigger and aiming blindly over his shoulder at the things. He could feel their breath on his neck as he ran, they were inches behind him. He dropped the gun as it clicked and kept moving.

As he emerged from the alley, he looked around for Ben, but he wasn't in sight.

"Move!" Ben's voice shouted from behind a wooden fence to someone's back yard.

Larry jumped onto the fence, hit it and fell over it into the wet mud.

"Let's go," Ben said as he jumped over the fence to the next back yard.

Larry didn't need telling twice, a crash next to him said they were still right on them. Larry ran and tried jumping the fence, but only managed to grasp the top with both hands. He scrambled up it, but there was no where to use as a foothold and he slipped. A hand grabbed his hand and pulled him up as more hands grasped his legs.

"Get up here!" Ben said letting go and aiming the shotgun at the zombies grabbing Larry.

Ben fired as Larry tried to climb up, it took all his strength to get his arm over the top, but he made it. He fell face first into the ground, landing on concrete. Winded and a little dazed, he stood up as Ben dropped down from the garbage container he was standing on and started reloading again.

"How many bullet you got?" Larry asked, but didn't have time to stop, Ben was moving again.

"Three," Ben said, not looking back.

They turned the corner to where the gunshop was to face a sight they had hoped wouldn't be there, hundreds of the things were at the other end of the street running towards them.

"Go!" Ben said, sprinting towards them.

"What the fuck?!" Larry said, turning to head back, but more blocked his path," holy shit!"

Larry spun around and limped after Ben, Larry's side and chest were hurting from all the running, but he did his best to keep moving. Ben had already reached the gun shop and was closing the door.

"Wait!" Larry shouted in desperation.

Larry slammed into the closed door, falling on his ass with the recoil. He got up, knowing that they were right there about to tear him apart and Ben opened the door, firing over Larry's shoulder as he squeezed through.

"Sorry about that," Ben said as he closed the door and beckoned Larry to help him block the door with some display stands, but it wouldn't hold long.

"Grab all you can," Ben said, already loading up on 9mm's.

Larry looked through the shop, it was empty of people at least. Larry took two 9mm Berettas, a Glock 17 and a Cougar. Ben was kicking around something in the back and he appeared from the storeroom with a shotgun that looked nasty.

"Wow," Larry said," that looks deadly,"

"Yeah," Ben said," it's a semi auto shotgun, this thing wont pack much of a punch as other shotguns, but wont have to cock the damm thing,"

There were no bags around to carry ammo, so they put as many clips in their coats as they could carry. Larry had at least ten clips on him, he didn't know about Ben.

"Take this," Ben said, handing Larry a shotgun, the same kind as Ben's one.

"Ready?" Ben asked.

"Can I say no?" Larry replied.

"Nope," Ben grinned, kicking open the gun store's door and opening fire.

…………………………………………………………………………………………

"Andrew!" Nadia's voice shouted.

Andrew sat up with a start, he had dosed off, it had been a tiring day. Heather lay next to him, in her sleep, quiet and unmoving.

"Fuck!" Nadia's voice said from outside the room and Andrew opened the door.

"What is i-?" he didn't have time to finish, the zombies were smashing violently at the barricade, two had already got through someway but were tangled in the chairs they were trying to crawl under.

Nadia was pressed against it, trying to hold it together, but she wasn't nearly strong enough. Andrew tore off his sling, he was going to die and so were the others if he didn't do something, he picked up the fire extinguisher and sprayed it into the eyes of the zombies coming through the barricade.

"What the fuck are you doing?" Nadia asked, almost slipping up as one of the zombies smashed against the barricade much stronger than the others.

It worked, Andrew sprayed the foam in their eyes and it finally broke free of the barricade, it ran towards him, foam covering it's face. Andrew stepped aside and it slammed right into the wall with a sickening thud, then fell back onto the ground reaching in all directions for fresh flesh, but It couldn't see through the foam. The extinguisher splattered it's skull and Andrew began foaming the other zombies.

"Your crazy," Nadia breathed as she let go of the barricade, the zombies biting at each other now that most of them at the front of the crowd were blinded by foam.

"Well it worked," Andrew said, his side was almost unbearable now and he fell to his knees.

"You got to take it easy," Nadia said, helping him back to the back room again.

"No," Andrew said," you cant hold this barricade alone,"

…………………………………………………………………………………………

Ben had lost his shotgun at the start of the fight, so much for semi automatic. They found that the 9mms did much better at this close range. Those things had poured through the doors as soon as they opened them. Ben easily held the door on his own, pumping both his handguns at them in a volley of cracks. Larry shot them through the window as they tried to crawl through, the gun in his left hand clicked and he drew his last handgun from his coat. Neither of them had a chance to reload, they just grabbed another gun they were carrying and hoped for the best. Larry fell back as a group of five stumbled through the window and lunged at him, he kicked over a shelf and they slowed, all except one. He dropped it and that gun clicked too, down to only one gun he aimed carefully and fired, but he had always been a bad shot. It took him three shots to drop the first, and two on a second. Ben was doing far better, taking them down in groups with bursts of fire from his guns.

Larry almost fell under the weight of the last two, they tore at his coat and he smashed into a glass cabinet, a bullet hole appeared in the head of one, spraying blood over his face, he couldn't see with it in his eyes and didn't see it coming. Another zombies bit into his hand and Larry stopped struggling, it was over, he was bitten.

Unlucky for him, Ben had other ideas. Both the zombies fell and lay still as Ben shot both of them.

"You could have at least tried to get them off," Ben said, loading another gun.

"They bit me," Larry breathed.

Ben stopped and looked at the gun, as thought deciding whether or not to shoot him.

"What do you want to do?" Ben asked, the zombies were all dead. At least thirty lay in the shop itself, there were loads outside with only twenty or so standing, still trying to find a way through the mass of bodies.

"All my life," Larry said," I've been such a fucking coward, never had a day in my life I could say was worth living, but now I'm so close to death, I don't want to die,"

"So don't," Ben said.

"Its not like I have a choice," Larry said.

"You have always got a choice," Ben said," even if we don't make it, at least we tried, ad to be honest I'd prefer to die fighting than shoot myself. So let's both go and help the others, they will all die without us,"

"What about me," Larry said.

"When the time comes," Ben said, cocking a handgun," I'll take care of it,"

…………………………………………………………………………………………

"They have been gone almost half an hour," Nadia said.

"They will be back," Andrew said.

"How do you know?" Nadia said.

"I just know," Andrew said," Ben isn't the kind of guy who looks like he gives up easily,"

"It's not Ben I'm worried about," Nadia said," Larry is unstable,"

There was a groan and Andrew looked back the barricade, the weight of the re-animates was bringing it down. Nadia was gone already, she was running towards the back room door where Heather was. Andrew got up too as the zombies broke though, he got into the back room as they reached where he had been sitting and Nadia dragged a cabinet across the floor with surprising speed and threw it in the way, but it didn't hold very well, the window broke to the back room and Nadia began lifting Heather as the door edged slowly inward, Andrew helped her towards the storeroom at the back, their last hope. They slammed shut the door Nadia started making another barricade from shelves and boxes, but it wasn't much of a barricade.

Andrew sat back against the wall, breathing hard, his side was getting too much. Nadia gave him a concerning look, but kept building up the barricade.

There was a tap on the window and Nadia jumped out of her skin, Ben's face appeared and Nadia opened it.

"Out here," Ben said and Larry appeared to help Nadia with Heather," go up the fire escape, we can sit on that until help arrives,"

Nadia and Larry helped take Heather up and Ben kept guard, scanning the back alley for zombies, but strangely there were none here.

…………………………………………………………………………………………

"I'm sorry you had to shoot that kid Larry," Andrew said.

"Oh that," Larry said handing a 9mm to Nadia.

"Thanks," she said.

"The thing is," Larry said, looking like he was trying to find the right words," I had a kid once, he….died of cancer,"

"I'm sorry," Nadia said.

"That kid back there looked just like him," Larry said," I heard a noise behind me and shot without looking, the kid could have been alive for all I know, I didn't get the chance to check, I just ran without thinking,"

"War makes us do some crazy things," Ben said.

"This isn't a war," Larry said," it's the end of the fucking world!"

"Just because your not going to make it," Ben said," doesn't mean we cant,"

"What are you talking about?" Andrew asked.

"Nothing," Larry said," It's nothing,"

"What's that?" Nadia asked.

"What?" Andrew asked.

"The telephone is ringing inside," Nadia said.

"They must be checking up on us," Ben said," we will just have to wait, we cant go inside with all those fucks in there,"

So they waited, Larry and Ben sorted the guns between them all. Nadia and Larry would be carrying Heather. Ben and Andrew had to do the shooting, it would be slow because of the injured, but at least they had some ammo now.

"There were at least three hundred out there," Ben said, some time later," I don't think we can make it,"

"What?" Larry asked," all this shit and we wont even make it! I got bitten for nothing then,"

"You got bit?" Andrew asked, pulling out the 9mm Ben had given him.

"Wait!" Larry said," I want to help you guys, then I'll take care of me,"

"I don't like it," Nadia said," but we need you,"

Heather stirred and Andrew edged over to her, she was still cold, but alive at least. He held her hand, but she didn't respond.

"Don't give up," he whispered as the wind picked up, his words lost.

"Look!" Nadia pointed.

Above them was a small helicopter, not enough to picked them up, but it had defiantly seen them.

"WE ARE READY TO PICK YOU UP!" a loudspeaker said," WE WILL COVER YOU, YOU HAVE TWO MINUTES TO GET ACROSS THE STREET, MOVE!"

"This is it," Ben said," time to find out what we are really made of,"

…………………………………………………………………………………………

Ben went first, Larry and Nadia carried Heather and Andrew was next to them, struggling to keep up and carrying two handguns. They turned into the street and froze, terror filling them as they faced an impossible enemy. Hundreds of zombies blocked their path, they couldn't make it no matter how many guns they had. Andrew looked at Ben, who was looking scared like the rest of them. He cocked his shotgun and moved a step forward, but the zombies were already on their way and he had only unloaded one shot before they were on them.

Andrew drew both guns, so did Larry who had dropped Heather with a thump, but it didn't matter now, this was it. Nadia drew her gun too, firing into the crowd as they advanced, Ben was struggling with two of them that had grabbed him and Andrew fired, putting both of them down. Ben rejoined the fight, dropping the shotgun and unloading his 9mm's into the zombies, but they kept on coming.

"Come on you fuckers!" Larry cried as one grabbed him, he unloaded five rounds into the crowd as he fell under the weight of the fat zombie. Andrew didn't have time to help him, there were just so many and they didn't stand a chance. One grabbed Andrew's arm and he fired into it's face, but another grabbed him and he fired at that face too. Staggering back, he fell onto the ground, unaware of the gunfire around him anymore or who was left standing. He fired three more shots as he backed up, crawling backwards to Heather. The gun clicked and he held the other in both hands.

"I'm sorry Heather," He said, aiming the gun at her, he didn't want her to suffer in the next few seconds when they were bundled onto.

Suddenly, there was a flash and the ground shook as a helicopter appeared above them. It hovered only for a split second before something remarkable happened.

There was a ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ of thundering gunfire and Ben dragged Nadia down who was still fighting. The zombies began to explode around them as the gunship chopper's chain gun mauled them. Two rockets sizzled as they shot from the chopper, blowing apart the street and downing fifty of the re-animates. A second helicopter appeared and began it's decent right next to them.

Filled with new hope, Andrew rose up, helping Nadia with Heather as Ben fired at the zombies that still stood, which was less than a hundred now. The chopper hadn't even hit the ground when soldiers poured out, firing into the crowds with their M16s.

"Stretcher!" someone called and two medics appeared to take Heather off their hands, Andrew breathed a sigh of relief and leant against the side of the chopper.

"Is he with you?" a medic pointed and Andrew looked back at Larry.

"Yeah," Andrew said," Larry come on, what are you waiting for?"

But he saw it too late, Larry lunged at Andrew, biting deep into his neck. Andrew screamed out, bullets thudded into Larry. Andrew fell to the ground, and the soldiers helped the others onto the chopper ignoring Andrew.

"I'm sorry," the soldier was saying," we cant bring him with us,"

"But," Nadia began.

"Go!" Andrew said," Before it's too late,"

Andrew held his neck, watching as the chopper ascended to safety, Ben and Nadia looked down at him, worried about him, but there was nothing they could do. Andrew picked up the gun from Larry's body and let the wound bleed.

"Fuck you all," he said, putting the gun in his mouth and pulling the trigger.

………………………………………………………………………………………

Heather sat up, the sun was shining today, but still there was something missing from their safe haven. Her mind raced for a second, the dead were trying to get into the town but the barrier's easily held them at bay. She looked around the room, Ben and Nadia had fallen asleep on the sofa, she wouldn't ask them about that when they awoke, that was their business.

Looking out at the town, people going about their everyday lives again after months of fortifying the town, she wondered, was this the beginning or the end of the world?


End file.
